Nearly 800 years after his death, Genghis Khan is widely
considered the greatest conqueror in history. Between 1206 and
1258 A.D., Khan and his immediate descendants conquered nearly all
of Asia and much of central Europe. Only the death of Genghis
Khan's son, Ogadai, in 1241 kept the Mongolian "hordes"
from devastating the rest of Europe.
The Mongols are a fascinating organizational case study. How
did nomadic tribes from a desert at the top of the world create
the largest empire in history? The societies they conquered,
including China and several major Muslim empires, were far larger
and seemingly more sophisticated than the Mongols.
What were the management secrets of Genghis Khan?
1. Leadership: Mongol officers were chosen based on
merit, rather than class, in contrast to most armies of the Middle
Ages. Even Genghis Khan's successor was voted on by his three
sons; the two oldest avoided civil war by selecting their baby
brother, Ogadai, whom they served loyally.
he Mongols' egalitarian management and succession style, and
openness to new tools and ideas, led to long-term stability for
their empire, which lasted for hundreds of years. In most areas of
Asia, they were never conquered but were gradually assimilated
into the local populations.
2. Lean Organization: The Mongol "horde" was
anything but disorganized. Here is a description on the Mongols in
action, taken from author Cecelia Holland's book "What If -
The Death that Saved Europe - The Mongols Turn Back 1242":
"The Mongol army looked strikingly like a modern army, set
down in a medieval world... [a Mongol general] coordinated the
movements of tens of thousands of men, across mountain ranges and
in unknown territory, as precisely as movements on a chessboard.
In battle, through a signaling system of colored banners, he could
advance thousands of men at a time, send them back, turn them, and
direct their charges -- and when he gave orders, his men did
instantly what they were told."
The Mongols' structure, then, had many of the attributes
21st-century companies strive for: disciplined and efficient yet
flexible; accurate communicating of decision in real time; and
efficient use of resources in a variety of innovative ways.
3. Lean Technology: The transportation and weapons of
the Mongols also fostered flexibility and responsiveness to
changing circumstances. Consider this description from Erik
Hildinger's June 1997 article in Military History magazine titled
"Mongol Invasion of Europe":
"The Mongol bow was a recurved composite bow, a lamination of
wood, horn and sinew that could cast an arrow more than 300 yards.
The Mongols shot their arrows with great accuracy while riding at
a fast pace and could even shoot accurately backward at a
pursuer.... The Mongol rode a pony that was considerably smaller
than the war charger of the Western armies. The Asiatic animal,
however, had superb endurance and survived by grazing in the wild.
Each Mongol soldier had two, three or even four ponies so that he
could spell them on a march and save them from exhaustion....That
practice allowed Mongol armies to travel 50 or even 60 miles in a
day, several times the distance that a Western army of the period
could travel."
4. Technology Transfer: The Mongols did not have a
written language, and they had little specialized technology,
aside from the composite bow. But they were not intimidated or
fearful of societies that had these things -- on the contrary,
they valued them, and would quickly assimilate the expertise --
and experts -- of the societies they conquered, particularly
China. The "Not-Invented-Here" syndrome was not a
concern for the Mongols.
5. Aggressive Process as a Strategic Weapon: The
combination of organizational self-discipline, flexibility and
aggressiveness allowed the Mongols to defeat larger armies of that
era that were rigidly organized, and whose discipline was
superficial.
The Mongols cultivated these efficient, collaborative qualities
in their horsemen from an early age by their traditional hunt on
the Mongolian steppe, where they would encircle large numbers of
animals and gradually herd them together for butchering, rather
than chasing them down individually.
Not a Moral Model
Like the pillaging Vikings of several centuries earlier,
Genghis Khan is clearly not a moral role model. He deliberately
and brutally devastated most everyone in his path. He was more
interested in acquiring trading routes and technology than
subjects, and his hordes routinely killed the entire populations
of cities that resisted them.
Interestingly, historians suggest that the Mongols were not
necessarily more bloodthirsty than the societies they conquered,
only more ruthlessly efficient. They did treat loyal subjects
fairly and, as nature-worshipping animists, did not oppress people
or societies for ideological motives -- in an era where religious
wars and massacres were the norm.
Modern Comparisons
But there are striking parallels between the management
secrets of Genghis Khan and some of the most successful modern
corporations.
Microsoft, Wal-Mart and Dell, for example, all dominate their
industries through organizational self-discipline, flexibility and
aggressiveness. Like the Mongols, they are criticized as ruthless
and lacking innovation. In truth, all three companies are
brilliant organization innovators.
Additionally, General Electric's use of Six Sigma process
improvement as an aggressive weapon for change has much in common
with the Mongols highly organized, flexible and ruthless
organization.
Genghis Khan can be thought of as the first "lean"
executive, brilliantly organized and able to use his resources to
optimize efficiency and flexibility. He had many of the attributes
of a modern executive and aggressively intertwined people,
process, and technology, in both strategy and execution.
