King Wei of Wei was planning to attack Handan, the capital of Zhao. Upon hearing this, Ji Liang turned back midway from his journey. His robes were crumpled and he had no time to smooth them; dust covered his hair and he had no chance to brush it away. He hastened to seek an audience with the king and said: "As 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 do you travel north?' He replied, 'My horse is excellent.' I said, 'Though your horse is excellent, this is not the road to Chu.' He said, 'My traveling expenses are ample.' I said, 'Though your expenses are ample, this is not the road to Chu.' He said, 'My driver is skilled at handling the reins.' Now, the better these conditions are, the farther he will be from Chu. Today Your Majesty, in every undertaking, aspires to establish hegemony and to win the trust of all under Heaven. Yet you rely on the strength of your state and the sharpness of your troops to attack Handan, thereby to expand your territory and elevate your prestige. The more frequently Your Majesty engages in such endeavors, the farther you will drift from the goal of ruling all under Heaven—just like the man who wished to reach Chu but journeyed northward."
💡 商战启示录
Ji Liang's parable of "Going South by Driving North" reveals an iron law in business warfare: strategic direction outweighs execution efficiency. Modern enterprises often fall into the "resource trap"—believing that abundant capital, cutting-edge technology, and an outstanding team allow them to charge recklessly into the wrong market or track, only to find that the more they invest, the farther they drift from their core objectives. For instance, Nokia, once a mobile phone giant, possessed top-tier R&D capabilities and vast resources, yet clung stubbornly to the feature-phone market while ignoring the touchscreen revolution of smartphones. Its "fine horses, ample provisions, and skilled charioteer" only hastened its decline. Conversely, Amazon early on defined a long-term strategy centered on the customer, persisting in expanding e-commerce and cloud services despite short-term losses, ultimately achieving dominance. Another case is Kodak, which, despite inventing the digital camera, shelved the new technology to protect its film business and was ultimately eliminated by the market. The "King of Wei" in business warfare is often lured by short-term expansion—such as reckless diversification or entry into unrelated fields—while forgetting the original market positioning and customer value. True strategists regularly recalibrate the direction of "north"—that is, the enterprise's mission and core goals—avoiding masking strategic laziness with tactical diligence. Ji Liang's admonition reminds us: the more abundant the resources, the greater the need to guard against misdirection; otherwise, every acceleration only distances us further from the goal. Managers should, like Ji Liang, calmly ask before making decisions, "Does this road lead to the State of Chu?" rather than blindly trusting in their own conditions.