The King of Wei was planning to attack Handan. Ji Liang, upon hearing this, turned back midway from his journey. With his clothes crumpled and unkempt, his face still covered in dust without time to wash, he went to see the King of Wei and said: "When I was returning today, I met a man on the great road who was driving his carriage northward. He told me, 'I am going to the state of Chu.' I said, 'If you are going to Chu, why are you heading north?' He replied, 'My horse is excellent.' I said, 'Though your horse is excellent, this is not the road to Chu.' He said, 'I have ample traveling expenses.' I said, 'Though your expenses are ample, this is not the road to Chu.' He said, 'My charioteer is highly skilled.' Now, the better these conditions are, the farther he will be from Chu. Today, Your Majesty, in every undertaking, aspires to establish hegemony and win the trust of all under heaven, yet you rely on the strength of your state and the sharpness of your army to attack Handan, in order to expand your territory and elevate your reputation. The more frequently Your Majesty acts thus, the farther you will be from the goal of ruling all under heaven—just like the man who wished to go to Chu but traveled northward."
💡 商战启示录
The allusion of King Wei of Wei attacking Handan warns that if a company's strategic direction is wrong, the more resources it invests, the farther it drifts from its goal. In modern business, many enterprises blindly pursue scale expansion or market share while neglecting core competitiveness and market demand, resulting in a course of action that runs counter to their intended destination—literally "going south by driving north." For instance, Nokia, once a mobile phone giant, held an absolute advantage in the feature-phone era, yet due to strategic miscalculation, it overlooked the smartphone wave and continued pouring substantial resources into the Symbian system, ultimately being overtaken by Apple and the Android camp, with its market share plummeting. Conversely, Huawei has advanced steadily in the field of telecommunications equipment, with a clear strategic direction and a customer-needs-oriented approach, sustaining investment in R&D and ultimately securing a leading position in the global market. Similarly, some startups, eager to secure rapid funding, blindly chase fleeting trends while ignoring viable profit models, eventually burning through their capital. Enterprises should heed the counsel of Ji Liang: first clarify where "Chu" lies—that is, the strategic goal—and then assess the "horse, provisions, and charioteer"—namely, resources, capabilities, and team—ensuring that actions align with objectives. If the direction is wrong, one must cut losses and adjust course promptly, rather than redouble efforts in the wrong direction. Business competition is akin to driving a chariot: direction matters more than speed, and only by unifying knowledge and action can one reach the shores of success.