Learn to Think in Color

What Can Businesses Learn from Genghis Khan? H ow a 13th-century warlord accidentally wrote a modern playbook for strategy and teams. Big-picture framing What can  businesses learn from Genghis Khan  without glorifying conquest or brutality? Quite a lot. Strip away the violence, and you’re left with a leader who united feuding tribes, scaled the Mongol Empire across continents, and built systems that outlived him. In this post, we zoom in on the  organizational  side: meritocracy, simple rules, fast decisions, and fierce loyalty. Under the surface, these are really questions about how you choose people, design structures, and adapt under pressure. If you’re building a company, this isn’t just a history lesson—it’s a mirror. Learning from a conqueror (without copying the conquest) First, the obvious caveat: Genghis Khan operated in a brutally violent world, responsible for mass death and destruction. That’s not the role model. What  is  useful is the way he ...

Does Meritocracy Reward Talent or Access to the Conditions That Develop It? Why Raw Talent Rarely Wins Alone in a So-Called Meritocracy We like to believe in meritocracy : the idea that effort and talent alone determine success. It’s appealing because it promises fairness and justifies outcomes. But what if the real differentiator isn’t innate talent, but access to the conditions that cultivate it? And what if acknowledging this doesn’t mean abandoning standards, but rather understanding how to identify excellence more accurately? This question cuts to the heart of how we structure schools, jobs, and social systems. By reframing what we mean by “merit,” we open the door to smarter policies and more inclusive definitions of success. If you’ve ever wondered why some people rise faster than others with equal talent, read on. The Myth of the Level Playing Field Meritocracy assumes everyone starts from the same line. But in reality, some are born on the track while others have to build it f...