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This reminds me of a quote in Machiavelli's The Prince about Mercenaries: > I say, therefore, that the arms with which a prince defends his state are either hi

by tieTYT 13y ago

This reminds me of a quote in Machiavelli's The Prince about Mercenaries: > I say, therefore, that the arms with which a prince defends his state are either his own, or they are mercenaries, auxiliaries, or mixed. Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy. The fact is, they have no other attraction or reason for keeping the field than a trifle of stipend, which is not sufficient to make them willing to die for you. They are ready enough to be your soldiers whilst you do not make war, but if war comes they take themselves off or run from the foe; which I should have little trouble to prove, for the ruin of Italy has been caused by nothing else than by resting all her hopes for many years on mercenaries, and although they formerly made some display and appeared valiant amongst themselves, yet when the foreigners came they showed what they were. Thus it was that Charles, King of France, was allowed to seize Italy with chalk in hand; 1 and he who told us that our sins were the cause of it told the truth, but they were not the sins he imagined, but those which I have related. And as they were the sins of princes, it is the princes who have also suffered the penalty. > I wish to demonstrate further the infelicity of these arms. The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not; if they are, you cannot trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skilful, you are ruined in the usual way. Source: http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince12.htm http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince12.htm

logicallee 13y ago
As interesting as Machiavelli's thoughts are read as a blog entry about tech consultants, don't you think it's a stretch?
- tieTYT 13y ago
  As a tradition, no. Old books like this are often read in a management context. For example, at my local book shop, The Book of Five Rings is in the Business section[1]. The Art of War by Sun Tzu[2] can be applied to any context you want and it's usually still good advice. Re: The Art of War[3], wikipedia says: > There are business books applying its lessons to office politics and corporate strategy. Many Japanese companies make the book required reading for their key executives. The book is also popular among Western business management, who have turned to it for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive business situations. It has also been applied to the field of education. Here's where I start talking out of my ass: If you think about it, aren't generals the original managers? They had to coordinate the actions of thousands of people. Sometimes hundreds of thousands. They have to delegate to their subordinates because it'd be impossible to micromanage everything. Also, I think it's more than a coincidence that the quote seemed to fit so well. Outsourcing is hiring mercenaries. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/1590302486/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381173518&sr=8-1&keywords=the+book+of+5+rings http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/15... [2]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-War-Liddell-Hart/dp/0195014766/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381173657&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+war http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-War-Liddell-Hart/dp/0195014766... [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War#Application_outside_the_military http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War#Application_outs...
  - pjungwir 13y ago
    For more "generalship as management," you can read another classic, Caesar's Gallic War. One caveat: a lot of modern Classics scholarship would rather take this less as an example of great generalship and more as an example of great propaganda. But either way it's a treatise on how to command, containing if not quite the unvarnished truth, at least Caesar's opinions of what good management/generalship ought to look like, as well as several anti-models.
- sologoub 13y ago
  The core concept in this paragraph is really a basic concept in outsourcing - don't outsource your business's core product, or you will be at a disadvantage when competition comes. Notice, he doesn't say that you cannot use these extra forces in attacks. All he is saying is that if they are guarding your sleep, you are probably screwed. Similarly, if your core business is being a technology organization, if you chose to outsource that core tech, you are likely screwing yourself. Now, should outsource as much as possible the non-core aspects, either by buying software/services or by hiring consultants, while you let your core team focus on what they do best. Of course, it's all easier said than done, and the line between core and non-core is often blurred.

by tieTYT 13y ago

logicallee 13y ago

As interesting as Machiavelli's thoughts are read as a blog entry about tech consultants, don't you think it's a stretch?

tieTYT 13y ago
As a tradition, no. Old books like this are often read in a management context. For example, at my local book shop, The Book of Five Rings is in the Business section[1]. The Art of War by Sun Tzu[2] can be applied to any context you want and it's usually still good advice. Re: The Art of War[3], wikipedia says: > There are business books applying its lessons to office politics and corporate strategy. Many Japanese companies make the book required reading for their key executives. The book is also popular among Western business management, who have turned to it for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive business situations. It has also been applied to the field of education. Here's where I start talking out of my ass: If you think about it, aren't generals the original managers? They had to coordinate the actions of thousands of people. Sometimes hundreds of thousands. They have to delegate to their subordinates because it'd be impossible to micromanage everything. Also, I think it's more than a coincidence that the quote seemed to fit so well. Outsourcing is hiring mercenaries. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/1590302486/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381173518&sr=8-1&keywords=the+book+of+5+rings http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/15... [2]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-War-Liddell-Hart/dp/0195014766/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381173657&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+war http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-War-Liddell-Hart/dp/0195014766... [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War#Application_outside_the_military http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War#Application_outs...
- pjungwir 13y ago
  For more "generalship as management," you can read another classic, Caesar's Gallic War. One caveat: a lot of modern Classics scholarship would rather take this less as an example of great generalship and more as an example of great propaganda. But either way it's a treatise on how to command, containing if not quite the unvarnished truth, at least Caesar's opinions of what good management/generalship ought to look like, as well as several anti-models.
sologoub 13y ago
The core concept in this paragraph is really a basic concept in outsourcing - don't outsource your business's core product, or you will be at a disadvantage when competition comes. Notice, he doesn't say that you cannot use these extra forces in attacks. All he is saying is that if they are guarding your sleep, you are probably screwed. Similarly, if your core business is being a technology organization, if you chose to outsource that core tech, you are likely screwing yourself. Now, should outsource as much as possible the non-core aspects, either by buying software/services or by hiring consultants, while you let your core team focus on what they do best. Of course, it's all easier said than done, and the line between core and non-core is often blurred.