Obliquity is achieving a goal through indirect means, which has implications for business and personal life. Direct action may not increase the likelihood of success due to complex factors. Writer John Kay uses examples to show obliquity’s effectiveness in unpredictable situations, such as forest fires and business success. Pursuing profit alone rarely achieves it. To achieve personal goals, focus on making others happy.
Obliquity is a philosophical term for the act of achieving a goal through indirect rather than direct means. This philosophical theory has implications both in the business world and in people’s personal lives. In its simplest terms, obliquity theory states that the factors causing any event are so numerous and so intricately connected that no event can be attributed to any one factor. Therefore, direct action toward achieving a goal such as making money or losing weight may or may not increase the likelihood of achieving that goal. In this way, obliquity is similar to chaos theory. This term has a different meaning when applied to science.
Writer and business economist John Kay has brought the idea of obliquity to the public through his writings and lectures. He says the concept of obliqueness is especially useful in businesses that depend on the actions of other people, which can be very unpredictable, and in tackling difficult problems. Kay uses examples from history to back up his claim, especially battle strategies that have proven successful in various wars, as well as examples found in nature. Kay says forest fires, for example, cannot be fought directly and that attempts to do so, such as the National Park Service’s “zero tolerance” policy, have failed.
Early on, the National Park Service attempted to put out every single fire, no matter how small, that started in its forests. The failure of this policy, however, led them to decide in 1972 to extinguish all man-made fires, but let natural ones burn. This too failed disastrously, because, according to Kay, these actions were too direct. Finally, the National Park Service has decided to work on a case-by-case basis to prevent bushfires, allowing rangers to use their own judgment on how to respond to each fire. Here, Kay argues, the obliquity theory is at work; this rather indirect and unplanned strategy has proven to be the most effective in keeping forest fires under control.
Kay says that business, communities and even the human body are complex systems and therefore the goals involving them cannot be successfully pursued with a single focus. Kay also cites the success of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, as an example of obliquity. Walton is one of the wealthiest people of his time; however, wealth has never been his goal. He pursued the goal of having quality shops, and as a result became indirectly rich. Kay says this is true of many companies; those who pursue profit alone rarely achieve it.
How, then, can one ever hope to achieve a goal that is primarily for oneself, such as wealth or happiness? Look for something outside of yourself. According to Kay’s philosophy, if you want to be happy, you should aim to make others happy and you in turn will find that happiness for yourself.
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