"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."

Song of Solomon, Chapter 2, Verse 15

There are none among us who has not had personal experience with those smooth, slick, manipulators who insinuate themselves into our lives, take what they want, and then leave us to sweep up the mess. On a personal level they are toxic, but in business they can bring down entire corporations, and as we've seen on Wall Street recently, entire economies!

These players exist on all levels; they're just more highly concentrated in the upper echelons of society. How does one free your company from this blight?

The direct approach is like attacking the bastion from the front gate- the defenders can see you coming from a mile off. With their well honed impression and perception management skills, they can easily ward off and deflect any of the arrow's coming their way.

Attempts to introduce controls and overseeing committees only exacerbate the situation as these become infiltrated by the Players and only add yet another layer to their subterfuge.

What then is the best way to handle the problem? The approach must be indirect - it cannot be seen to target the Players overtly. Instead, it must be done obliquely. The ideal is a preventative approach which involves taking steps to make the environment inhospitable to the Players. It means dismantling the structure - the controls, the committees, the regulations - that protect them.

This goes completely against the grain for anyone with even the most basic business education. The reflexive reaction to such an outlandish suggestion is: "But, does that not leave the company fully exposed to threats - both internal and external?"

The greatest military leaders in history - Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan - always had a disdain for elaborate fortifications. They considered those who hid behind them to be cowards. They would protect those inside for a time, but eventually the inhabitants would become complacent, while in the interim the attackers were devising new ways to breach the rampart.

Similarly, in the short run rules and regulations do ensure a certain degree of consistency and reliability in the company's performance. However, over time they foster a false sense of security, insulating those in senior management from the outside market environment. In the meantime the competition is busily seeking new ways and means with which to produce and market their products and services. With the passage of time the odds steadily climb in their favour, until the downfall of the company shifts from being a possibility to an inevitability. In a very real sense, the organization is already dead; those inside it just don't know it yet!