20 August 2009
How to Win as an Underdog—Lessons from Y.E. Yang and History
Posted by Dan DeMuth under: PIM Articles .
Tiger fan or not, viewers of the recent PGA Championship can surely appreciate Y.E. Yang’s underdog feat—a major victory by 5 shots over the game’s best player. To put this in perspective, Yang was ranked 110 in the world heading into the week; Tiger was ranked #1 with a 14-0 streak while leading a major tournament after 54 holes. Although it’s challenging to put the magnitude of this upset in perspective, it’s easy to see the correlation between Yang and other victorious underdogs.
Recall the biblical story where David beats Goliath. Although this story is ancient, it demonstrates a valid point about the power of strategy when one is faced with seemingly unbeatable odds. David’s strategy was to carry but five stones so he could be quick and agile. This strategy ensued from seeing many others fall as they wore heavy armor in battle. Meanwhile, Y.E. Yang recalled that “throughout Tiger’s career… a lot of players have folded … when playing with him.” In a post tournament interview, Yang thus explained , “I’d usually try to visualize and try to bring up a mock strategy how to win, if I ever played against Tiger.” Clearly, both Yang and David had a strategy that they had planned out, demonstrating an important lesson if you want to win as an underdog. But what was it specifically about David’s strategy or Yang’s approach?
Historically speaking, a victorious underdog’s strategy breaks away from convention. Political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft researched every battle in the last two hundred years fought between stronger and weaker opponents. When the “David’s” chose not to play by “Goliath’s” rules, their win percentage went up from 29 to 64. Arreguin-Toft explained that many of these underdogs employed blatantly unconventional techniques to win. Reflecting back on David and Goliath, the convention would have been to wear heavy armor, but David chose otherwise.
Another great story about breaking away from convention is that of Lawrence of Arabia, made famous in an Oscar winning movie. The British who were aiding Lawrence, against the Ottoman Turks, suggested that he attack the Ottomans in Medina before they move to conquer other Arabian territory. Yet Lawrence knew that the Turks would be too strong to take on at this stationary location. He reasoned that they would be much weaker while on the move, along their railway which supported their food, fuel and water supply. Thus he went against British recommendations and waited to attack the Ottomans while they journeyed across the railway. This strategy worked.
Both Lawrence of Arabia and David were unconventional and they ended up winning their respective battles. Yet it’s not simply about going against the norm in difficult odds, it’s about employing an effective strategy. This requires shrewd planning and visualization, much like Yang did.
Here at Performance In Motion, we work with clients to plan out their strategy to succeed in their own market. We help clients see the possibilities and look beyond convention when necessary.
