The King of Wei was planning to attack Handan. Ji Liang, upon hearing of this, turned back midway, his robes crumpled and unkempt, his hair still dust-laden, and hastened to seek an audience with the King, saying: "As I was returning today, I encountered a man on the great road who was driving his carriage northward. He told me, 'I am going to the state of Chu.' I asked, 'If you are going to Chu, why do you head 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 funds are plentiful.' I said, 'Though your funds are plentiful, this is not the road to Chu.' He said, 'My driver is skilled at handling the reins.' The better these conditions, the farther he would be from Chu. Now Your Majesty, with every undertaking, aspires to establish hegemony, and with every action, seeks to win the trust of all under Heaven. Yet, relying on the strength of the state and the sharpness of its army, you intend to attack Handan, to expand your territory and elevate your prestige. The more frequently Your Majesty acts thus, the farther you will drift from ruling all under Heaven—just like the man who wished to reach Chu but journeyed northward."
💡 商战启示录
Ji Liang admonished the King of Wei with the parable of "heading south while the carriage points north," the essence of which lies in a stark reminder: if the strategic direction is flawed, the more abundant the resources and the stronger the execution, the farther one drifts from the goal. In the modern arena of commerce, this translates into the question of "alignment between strategic positioning and executional efficacy." For instance, Nokia once possessed cutting-edge hardware R&D capabilities and a commanding market share, yet in the tide of the smartphone revolution, it clung to the Symbian system, overlooking users' demands for touchscreens and ecosystems. Its "fine horses, ample provisions, and skilled driver"—technology, capital, and talent—were all first-rate, but its course had strayed from the "land of Chu" that was mobile connectivity, and it was ultimately overtaken by Apple and the Android camp. Conversely, Amazon's Jeff Bezos adhered to a philosophy of "long-termism," focusing on customer experience and infrastructure even amid the dot-com bust; with the direction correct, he steadily intensified investment and ultimately rose to become a titan of cloud services. Thus, enterprises should periodically re-examine whether the premises of their strategy have shifted, remaining vigilant against the trap of "the more resources, the greater the overconfidence," and must treat market trends and customer value as their navigational compass, rather than blindly accelerating on the strength of internal advantages alone. When a deviation in direction is detected, they must summon the courage to make a decisive break and course-correct; otherwise, the more they invest, the higher the sunk costs, and the farther they drift from true hegemony.