Gnaeus Pompeus – also known as Pompey – was a celebrated Roman hero. He joined the Roman army when he was all of 15 years old. And over the next few years, Pompey fought valiantly. He raised and equipped a full legion on his own. And routed enemies methodically.

His enemies called him the teenage butcher because of his ruthlessness. But Romans gave him the title of Magnus. And called him Pompey the Great – because he showed sparks of Alexander the Great.

It was Pompey who helped Rome quell rebellions in Spain, get rid of pirates from the Mediterranean, and conquer Turkey, Armenia, Jerusalem, and Syria.

So when a rebellion broke out, it was obvious for the Roman senators to ask Pompey to go and take care of it.

The battle took place in Greece. 22,000 rebels. Against Pompey’s force of 47,000. And even though Pompey had twice the number of soldiers, he didn’t take things lightly. He still chose the place of the battle near a river. 

Pompey deployed his army in the traditional Roman 3 lines. And his enemy followed suit, even though all their lines were thinner. But Pompey made his left flank unusually strong. He positioned the majority of his cavalry there. Because he wanted to start strong and push the enemy into the river that lay to his right.

It was a sound strategy. And yet, against all odds, Pompey lost the war. Because in front of him, the rebel was Julius Caesar. 

How did Caesar defeat Pompey?

By all accounts, Caesar wasn’t a better general than Pompey. And his army was half the size of Pompeys. So how did he win?

Caesar won because he was quick to adapt. When he saw that Pompey was bulking up his left flank with heavy cavalry, he went against the traditional battle plan ideas. He pulled resources from each of his 3 lines, and created a 4th line of foot soldiers.

Most generals would have advised against thinning their already thin lines. But Caesar pulled and created a 4th cohort of 3000 soldiers and placed them diagonally behind his 3 lines, so Pompey could not see them. 

As Darwin says, it’s not the strongest that survive. But the most adaptable. In the beginning of the battle, Pompey’s cavalry was pushing Caesar’s army from the left. When they were surprised by the 4th cohort. Caesar broke all the known war rules when he got his 4th line of foot soldiers to attack Pompey’s cavalry – soldiers on horses.

But the surprise attack worked. Pompey’s cavalry broke their lines and started retreating when they could not defend themselves from two sides. Seeing the cavalry run, the other soldiers started retreating as well! Pompey himself ran thinking all was lost.

And Caesar seized the day. He lost 1200 soldiers to Pompey’s 15000. And the funniest part was Caesar captured 24,000 soldiers – which was way more than the size of his own army! The other side surrendered even though they were still more in numbers!

So how do you become adaptable?

How can you adapt to any situation that arises? You need 3 elements.

1. Monitoring. Tracking what’s going on well is the first thing that’s needed. You’ve to monitor market forces, as well as your actions and its performance.
   
2. Speed. Swift decision making as well as execution. Which requires less bureaucracy and smart generals who can make their own decisions.
   
3. Paranoia. 

Yes, paranoia. It’s the paranoid that survive. Because they are not blinded by optimism. They don’t fall in love with their plans. Which makes it easier for them to pivot.

But isn’t paranoia a negative mindset?

As the Zen teachers teach us, your mind requires balance. If you are only paranoid, you’ll go cuckoo. But having zero paranoia is worse than that. Because positivity without paranoia leads to arrogance. And arrogance leads to your downfall.

As Caesar too found out in the end. When he lost his paranoid edge and thought that everyone loved him. That his popular reforms would protect him against senatorial conspiracy. Caesar was so sure no one would stand against him that on his last fateful day, he dismissed his bodyguards before entering the senate. 

Where he was promptly stabbed by multiple people no less than 23 times!

Action Summary:

• Positivity without paranoia leads to arrogance. Negativity without optimism leads to depression. Balance both. 

• Develop a healthy sense of paranoia. Constantly ask yourself: “What if you are wrong?” and “How can you be defeated?”

“Quote Unquote”
“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.”
– Andy Grove.