Alliances
Sun Tzu said, “We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.”
Some people are so quick to make alliances. They want everyone and everybody that is friendly to them. This is a mistake. An alliance must be a good strategic partner. You should get to know the people and their design before making the alliance. Some bad alliances will throw you into battles you don't want to be in. The alliance can also hurt your forces if they aren't well trained, aren't moral, and such. Poorly trained troops can cause other troops to not function as well.
In business, many companies go out and seek alliances. They buy up lots of companies that they feel will help them in their goals. They will also merge with other companies in an effort to gain more market share and have dominance.
Many businesses make the mistake of picking up an ally that is not good for the company. For example, some people merge with another company that has a very different culture. The companies clash and do not work together well. The result is that the company has a hard time gaining momentum. Some companies merge and find out that the other company had more problems than they had thought. One company may be trying to merge as a way to get cash and avoid their own problems. In this type of merger, it is mostly a headache for someone to take it over. That is why businesses should carefully study an alliance before choosing them.
With people or business partners the same is true. Some people are so willing to get a business partner. They look at the paperwork and dream about all the money they can get. This is foolish. Many people do not like their business partners. They often feel taken advantage of. It is wise to pick a business partner that is both valuable in their skills and is honest and hard working. The most important aspect is honesty. You can coach someone to improve their skills, but you can't make a dishonest person become honest.
In the game of Survivor, on CBS, the use of alliances is legendary. The only way to not get voted out is to be in an alliance with the majority of the people. The alliances constantly change as more and more people are voted out. Sometimes the strong people are voted out because they are seen as threatening and sometimes the weakest players get voted out to make the team stronger.
The thing that you learn from the show, is that it matters a lot who you are in an alliance with. Some people pretend to be in your alliance to get your voted out. Other people will switch alliances to whatever person suits them at the time. The best alliances are truly loyal and honest with each other. In a game of lying and backstabbing, it is always difficult to know who to trust. However, in each game there are some people that develop true friendships and true alliances. They are not always the people that win, but often times they get much further in the game. Everyone in the game must use deception as some level. The irony is that you can actually have a real honest connection with someone and be using deception, to others, at the same time. You should be careful about alliances because you need to know their motives, their honesty, and their ability to deliver.
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