What happens when underdogs face powerful opponents?
This is a very interesting and fascinating subject for all us. In fact besides the famous David Vs Goliath biblical story that we have all heard, there are several other cases in history where the proverbial underdogs have defeated their invincible opponents. I have read with tremendous interest the story of Alexander (the Great) when he defeated the hugely powerful Persian Army with a much smaller force on his side.
Yesterday night I was watching on television the election results in Delhi. A party that is hardly a year old in politics inflicts crushing defeat on a nearly 100-year-old party, including the defeat of its three-time chief minister by about 22000 plus votes. Not only in elections and wars but also in winning consumers and markets, we have several examples where unknown entities with meagre resources have felled large corporations.
I would like to share with you an absorbing interview that I read recently between Wharton Professor Adam M Grant and Malcolm Gladwell, author of several famous books (Tipping Point, Outliers, David and Goliath…) on the subject of Advantages of Disadvantages.