Lanchester Strategy

When most people are asked which dead person they’d have lunch with if they could only choose one, they tend to say something deep like Gandhi, or poignant like Great Grandma Rose. But if someone were to ask us that question, right here, today...our answer would be that we’d like to share our midday meal with Frederick William Lanchester, English engineer extraordinaire. This dude not only made Britain’s first car (one cylinder, 1306 CCs, ten horsepower—powerful stuff), but he also invented things like dimensional analysis, disc brakes, power steering, the Isometrograph, and warfare combat strategies. He was a seriously well-rounded guy. Plus, he didn't eat with his mouth open.

But let’s get back to those warfare strategies. Why? Because they’re not just for combat anymore. The formulas and equations he came up with to help military strategists get ‘er done can also be applied to the business world, and very successfully. Just ask Japan; they’ve been all over the Lanchester strategy since it was introduced to them during their post-WWII economic reconstruction.

So what is it and what does it do? Well, it basically tells armies (or companies) either how to hold their ground…or how to infiltrate the territory of larger, stronger adversaries, gain a footing, and then take them down. There are a lot of specifics here—like actual differential equations and stuff—but let’s keep it a little more general. Basically, if we’re a big organization looking to hold onto our market share, we need to be strategic with our handling of wannabe competitors. We likely already have the advantage: our arsenal is full of money, customers, and market share. So we don’t want to go wasting it on silly little battles, depleting our supplies and thus giving other would-be enemies a chance to shore themselves up and attack us later. And if we’re a smaller company looking to break into the market, we too need to be strategic; we shouldn’t attack a big enemy all at once, but should instead take little bites where we can, gaining market traction while also making sure not to deplete our own resources.