Focus, focus, focus: A Lesson from the movie "300"

In my last post I used Clausewitz and Tim Ferris to communicate the idea of "focus".  By narrowing the point at which you direct your effort, you bring maximum effect and efficiency.  If you happen to narrow your focus on a competitor's weak spot, all the better.  I'm not here to talk strategy, so let's move on.

Using another military example to make the point,  Sparta's King Leonidas eliminated thousands at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. with a small, well trained and focused group.

Romanticized in the movie "300", Leonidas took 300 of his best soldiers to a narrow passage (~50 feet wide) that the vast Persian army, estimated at 200,000 plus, needed to travel through to get to the cities.  Using the "hot gates" as a choke point, Leonidas and his team had a narrow, focused area to defend.

The Spartans were also masters of the phalanx formation, a grouping that was very effective when used in tight surroundings with their opponent coming at them head on.  It was designed to be a single, impenetrable unit, and at times it was.

With their shield, each man in the phalanx provided protection to the one on his left.  Everyone in the phalanx trusted one another for protection, and this trust in team mate, their training and their leader allowed each of them to focus on the objective.

Focus, focus, focus.  Eliminate all that is unncessary and allow your team to concentrate on the objective that you have clearly, unambigously communicated to them.  You have eliminated all of those BS meetings and clearly communicated the objective to them, haven't you? 

P.S. In the end, Leonidas and his men were killed, thanks to a traitor that led the Persians to a remote trail that enabled the enemy to flank the Spartans.  Watch those flanking moves!  Even so, they held them for a few days and motivated their countrymen to get in the game. 

Enough of the history lesson.  Here's a brief clip from the movie "300".