Al Qaeda And Napster

March 9, 2014 in Daily Bulletin

Former American General Stanley McChrystal has launched a company that teaches executives how to use battlefield tactics in the corporate world:

  • Three years ago McChrystal gave an interview to Rolling Stone that eventually got him fired. In need of a job he launched a startup that organized training courses for business leaders.
  • The McChrystal Group points out that Al Qaeda was like Napster. Both were fast-moving, unpredictable, and something that established institutions didn’t quite know how to battle or defeat.
  • General McChrystal upgraded the American military to counter the threat. Between 2004 and 2006 special ops missions in Iraq increased from 20 to 300.
  • One company says that going through the training course (which involves burpees and puzzle solving challenges) helped the company grow earnings per share 39% by allowing them to react to unexpected weather events and to fight off a “YouTube attack ad”.
  • Another company is using the training course to learn how to avoid being killed by newer competitors.

Read more about the companies that are trying out the course, what the course entails, and how the battlefield compares to the boardroom over here.

Source: Newsweek