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I once wrote about an entrepreneur — I can’t even remember who it was, but it doesn’t really matter — and I called his tale a real “David vs. Goliath” story.
Oh man, did I ever hear from readers. And it got me thinking that we still tend to use “David vs. Goliath” all wrong.
This isn’t a unique thought; in fact, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an entire book about the idea.
But if you think about the number of times we refer to an underdog story as “David vs. Goliath,” and suddenly realize that we might be using this phrase backward, it’s pretty interesting.
Here's the deal. You might envision David versus Goliath as the story of a weak shepherd defeating a mighty warrior. I always did.
However, it turns out that's maybe not what the story is about at all.
So, in the interest of not making bad business decisions because you didn't pay attention during Sunday School, let's explore another interpretation, and what it would mean.
1. Goliath can't see.
Let's start with the fact that Goliath is a giant: a mighty, 6-foot-9 Philistine warrior.
He's a big guy by modern standards, and he would have been absolutely colossal in Biblical times.
It turns out scientists wrestled with that detail, and have debated for decades whether Goliath might have had a disorder called acromegaly. This condition leads to a person growing extremely tall--but also often leads to double-vision and severe nearsightedness.
Lo and behold, in the Biblical story, as Gladwell points out, Goliath has to call out to David in order to fight him:
“Come to me that I might feed your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field.”
Why does he have to guide Goliath like that? Perhaps it’s just a literary device—but also, perhaps Goliath can't see David.
It’s a bit inspiring to think about how big competitors' perceived advantages can often mask their even bigger disadvantages.
2. Goliath is powerless.
Why are David and Goliath fighting to begin with? Because the Philistines have proposed to send their toughest warrior against the Israelites' toughest warrior to settle a dispute in “single combat.”
As Gladwell put it in his TED talk:
[T]he Philistine who is sent down, their mighty warrior, is a giant. ... He's outfitted head to toe in this glittering bronze armor, and he's got a sword and he's got a javelin and he's got his spear. He is absolutely terrifying.
And he's so terrifying that none of the Israelite soldiers want to fight him. It's a death wish, right? There's no way they think they can take him.
On the other hand, David is a lowly shepherd boy—and yet he's the only person willing to fight Goliath. He also refuses to wear armor.
Why? Maybe he just doesn’t have armor. But, perhaps David is also the only person in the story who realizes that heavy armor weighs a warrior down.
Goliath could easily kill David with his sword—but he can only do that if David were foolish enough to walk right up to him. Of course, that's the last thing David plans to do.
3. David is deadly.
The final misconception is the idea that David goes into battle with “only a sling.”
When we hear that with modern ears, we might think of a child's toy—a slingshot.
However, that's not what David has at all. Instead, he's carrying a sling, which is a simple but highly effective weapon. Armies used it in battle, and shepherds like David used it to protect their flocks from wild animals.
Once more, to Gladwell’s words:
[A] sling has a leather pouch with two long cords attached to it, and ... a projectile, either a rock or a lead ball. ... It's not a child's toy. It's in fact an incredibly devastating weapon. ...
If you do the calculations on the ballistics, on the stopping power of the rock fired from David's sling, it's roughly equal to the stopping power of a [.45 caliber] handgun.
This is an incredibly devastating weapon. ... When David lines up ... he has every intention and every expectation of being able to hit Goliath at his most vulnerable spot between his eyes.
In fact, that's exactly what David does—walks right up to Goliath (but still far enough away that Goliath's swords and javelin are useless) and kills Goliath with a single shot to the head.
It's like when Indiana Jones shoots the intimidating swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Take a look at the story again. If you study the Bible and take it literally, that’s fine; I respect you. And I understand you might have a different interpretation.
But if you look at it this way?
The lesson isn't simply that when a powerful competitor takes on a smaller one, the smaller one might sometimes win. It’s that the smaller competitor almost always wins.
And that’s a pretty inspiring idea to take away.
Wow, only 6 days left until the U.S. presidential election! As of last night, just over 70 million ballots have already been returned. Texas (officially now, a “tossup”), is at 86.9 percent of its total vote for 2016. Remember: Don’t vote by mail at this late date—it’s probably too late! 70,032,485
Correction from yesterday: Virginia Military Institute is the college where the superintendent resigned after an investigation into an alleged culture of racism. I wrote, “Virginia Military Academy.” Thanks to a reader (who is also an alumnus) for pointing it out. Mea culpa. I assume I have to do push-ups now?
7 other things worth your time
Going 100% in the wrong direction: The U.S. just broke the record for highest five-day average total number of new Covid-19 cases, with 69,697 every day. In my home state of New Jersey, there are only 9 states that are not on the quarantine list for incoming travelers: California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, which are all seeing record numbers, were added Tuesday. (CNBC, WPRI, NJ.gov)
Mayor of NYC (nobody likes him, it seems, but he’s still the mayor) to residents: Please do not travel anywhere for the holidays, because of Covid. (Fox 5 NY)
Having confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the U.S. Senate adjourned until November 9, so it won’t consider Covid relief or a stimulus bill until after the election. (CBS News)
White Castle is pushing hard to replace human fry cooks with machines, after a successful test this summer. (ZDNet)
A surveillance company is accused of harassing female employees using its own facial recognition technology. (The Verge)
A California billionaire is involved in a legal battle with his tech entrepreneur neighbor, over a $1 million sculpture and allegations that he tried to annoy him by blasting the “Gilligan's Island” theme song and other strange music on a loop from his house. (CNN)
Campaigns are doing some very simple things to get around Facebook’s weak rules to stop misinformation in the wake of the election — like running highly controversial ads now, with very small ad buys, so they’re technically “pre-election ads,” and they can put much more money behind them after Election Day. (CNBC)
Photo: I know this story was about David and Goliath, not Davy and Goliath, but I couldn’t help myself. Also, I wrote about David and Goliath a long time ago at Inc.com. If you liked this post, and you’re not yet a subscriber, what are you waiting for? Please sign up for the daily Understandably.com email newsletter, with thousands and thousands of 5-star ratings from happy readers. You can also just send an email to signup@understandably.com.
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One-click review and feedback:
Between this examination of David & Goliath and the Indiana Jones reference, it seems like the KISS rule is golden. Simplicity keeps us agile and effective. Napoleon Hill would says the smaller competitors almost always win because they have a burning desire to do so. It's the difference between that young 2nd string quarterback who finally gets playtime vs the NFL player who already has multiple super bowl rings.
So many takeaways with the D&G account: bigger not necessarily better, technology vs human spirit, misjudging a competitor, God ordained victory, intimidation by perception, etc, etc..... one of my takeaways is that David had a whole different view of what -to most of the professionals at the time- seemed like a hopeless situation; leaders need to be on the lookout for team members who can effect a paradigm shift for difficult problem solving (maybe this was discussed during the Inc 5000). In military terms think about the American military might vs the average insurgent group with mostly just 3 simple weapons = 20 years of expensive GWOT. Also “5 smooth stones” first recorded use of precision guided munitions by David - or PGM in military parlance....