The Great Wall of China was originally conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century B.C. as a means of protecting his people from incursions from the barbaric hordes that swept down from the North.
Made mostly of earth and stone, the wall stretched from the China Sea port of Shanhaiguan over 3,000 miles west into Gansu province.
From a base of 15 to 50 feet, the Great Wall rose some 15-30 feet high and was topped by ramparts 12 feet or higher; guard towers were distributed at intervals along it.
The impenetrable wall was too high for the enemy to scale, too thick to tear down, and too long to go around yet during the first 100 years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. How was the security breached? The enemies simply bribed a gatekeeper and then marched easily through a gate.
The fatal flaw in China’s defense lay not in the planning and construction, but in the failure to vet and train the gate keepers. The Emperor had identified a problem, executed a solution, but was undone by it’s weakest point: human frailty.
In business, the most sophisticated planning can be undone by an unforeseen barriers – those that are unknown, or known but just not mentioned.
At North Bailey experience has taught us that definition of all sides of the problem is key to getting the results your company really needs. We help you define the strengths of a proposition and the potential weaknesses and barriers that need to be overcome. We bring fresh perspective and critical thinking along with a wealth of knowledge. We are provocative, challenge convention, ask the difficult questions and allow you to see your business from a different perspective.
We’ll man your gate.