China Recruiting Blog

Adjusting Fire in China

In a past life, I worked as a Fire Support Officer leading a team of forward observers supporting a light infantry company.  You can see a graphic of what we did here on Wikipedia.

We worked as the eyes of the artillery as they could not see the target directly. We walked with the infantry at the front.  It was a great job.

We could spot a target and call in to the Fire Direction Center who would calculate for the guns. Then the guns would add appropriate amounts of powder and angle the guns to hit the target.  Hitting the target on the first round was highly unusual.   We would begin with adjusting fires. We would have one gun fire one round so we could see how close and adjust fire.

Once we had bracketed or closed in on the target, we would call to Fire For Effect and the whole gun battery of 6 or 8 guns would unload on that target with great accuracy showing why the artillery is called the King of Battle.

Adjusting Fire In China Business

I once managed a 10 office service business in North China. We had a set service model, but I encouraged office managers to register to do experiments with pricing and service.  In this way I could have one office out of ten experiment in some way without causing turmoil in the whole business.  Any methodology that worked could be spread to the whole group.  In this way, we could adjust fire before bringing all our guns to bear.

Your business should do the same. When you find a possible market, product, or service that is not proven,  find a way to fire some adjusting rounds before calling in the whole battery.

Experiment in some small way to test the market. Many small tests can be made without expending too much effort or capital.  By this means, you can find the best target and really nail it when you put the big guns on it. Then you can be the King of Battle in China. See also 6 Ways of Doing Business in China