In my newsletter for Vol 10, I discussed the food of the Cook Islands. Some lovely dishes to try and what makes these dishes unique. I will return to the third newsletter in that series in the next edition. This week I will provide another analysis of a famous military battle or campaign and how we can take those lessons and apply them to our daily lives or business decisions.
BURN THE SHIPS!!
Have you ever heard this expression before? Do you know the origin of this phrase? It is claimed from a number of sources but the meaning is essentially the same. It usually involves a situation where a leader decides to destroy and abandon all transport and it forces those under the leader’s command to have no escape route. There is only one choice to join together and press ahead. Victory and success are the only ways forward. The other option is to give up. Everyone must work together for a common goal. It is the point of no return!
The usage of this phrase has a number of cases in history.
It appears in the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu.
“When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home.”
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
The ancient Greeks also used it. In 334 BC Alexander the Great landed his army in present-day Turkey and ordered the fleet destroyed.
“We will either return home in Persian ships or we will die here.”
He knew it would motivate and give their soldiers no choice but to rally. There was no way home except to destroy the forces ahead. Failure was not an option. This army eventually smashed and destroyed their way to modern-day Afghanistan and India.
In 711 AD Muslim forces invaded modern-day Spain and Portugal. The commander Tariq ibn Ziyad ordered his troops to burn the ships thus forcing a point of no return. Successfully conquering the Iberian Peninsula.
One of the famous stories linked to this expression is 1519 and the arrival of the Spanish under Hernan Cortes in the “New World”. Although I cannot agree with the destruction caused by Cortes. What interests me is the expression and how prevalent it is utilized in history.
If you are a leader in the workforce, captain of a sports team, even looking into yourself on a personal level the expression essentially means becoming a leader and inspiring others and even yourself. A leader will have to show commitment to a cause and inspire others to follow. By showing an example of how far you are willing to commit leaves little doubt to others to either join or fall by the wayside. Failure is not a choice.
On a sports level “burning the boats” can simply mean sacrifices. To reach the top you will have to give up your free time and devote utmost dedication to training many hours every day. Avoiding alcohol and eating healthy. All in order to achieve success. You are trying to reach a point of no return and hopefully, create a better situation for yourself. In essence, “burning the boats”.
I think of an adventurer hiking through the jungles or the snow and cold of the North Pole. “Burning the Ships” means giving up the comforts of warmth or dryness in order to reach the final destination. What is the goal of this person? They are trying to challenge themselves and place themselves in a difficult situation. They reach the point of no return by “Burning the Ships”!
In the business world what comes to mind is the relentless drive to market and push products or ideas. Companies are trying to reach a point of no return and make it successful. Leaders need to show how committed they are to the cause and inspire employees. Make themselves accountable and not accept the mediocre. They must show workers failure is not an option.
“Business leaders have incredibly dynamic challenges facing them daily. To move their team, direction or organisation to a new position they may have to display the necessary character to burn their boats and advance their companies before they become burned themselves by competition.”
Gregory Robinson
Finally, by not “burning the ships”, challenging yourself, and reaching for a goal, time will pass, and regret will eat away your daily life.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
In the gym at 2 am “burning the ships”!
In the next edition, I will return to my series on the Cook Islands and the third edition in that series.
This week’s recommendations
1) This week I have 2 new language expressions for followers of this newsletter. How do we say hello in Korean and Cook Island Maori?
안녕하세요 - (Ann yeong Ha sey o)
Kia Orana - (Key-ah-o-raah-nah)
2) As an avid follower of many different authors on Substack this week I would like to recommend a newsletter that is really great. This author is trying to cook and eat her way through the alphabet. So far she has finished “A”.
