Preface
An introduction to the key themes you'll find in our upcoming book, "The Missionary and the Mercenary."
“Human intelligence produces the confidence to act by asking the right questions to create a better future.”
— Arik and Derek Johnson
Humans have trouble swinging into action. The right actions, taken at the right time, can lead to predictable, risk-adjusted results.
But our anxiety causes us to act hastily before evidence has provided a clear or superior path. Our overconfidence ends the search for alternatives prematurely. Abstract and ambiguous evidence causes humans to trust experts instead of their own instincts for advice. Laziness and complacency cause humans to outsource anything more complex or scientific than they can initially understand. Rather than seeking out understanding to avoid costly mistakes, we tend to trust experts who do not have a personal stake in our outcomes to influence our choices. Making these phenomena worse, news and social media manipulate our reactions emotionally while convincing us of our own false rationality.
Human intelligence produces the confidence to act by asking the right questions to create a better future. Particularly in abstract, highly specialized, communal stakeholder groups, the confidence to act is seldom certain. Consensus reality is fickle and elusive, but there are even thornier human traits to cope with. People are wired with a Paleolithic set of emotions that are ill-suited for the world we live in today, yet they still have to live in it.
This book will help readers cope with the consequences of their choices through the magic of compartmentalization. It is necessary to break the components of any action down into pieces so the sub-sectioned insights can be reassembled more logically. The word ANALYSIS means to break apart. By compartmentalizing insights, analysts and their stakeholders can avoid mistakes and maximize the impact of their consensus choices toward a more productive future. The value of intelligence work comes from synthesizing compartmentalized insights into actionable next steps everyone is enthusiastic about, even when difficult.
There is a duality that will make this uniquely human problem of confident action persistently problematic. Choice and hope factor into every decision we confront. And, in recent years, artificial intelligence has emerged to mimic human intelligence in ways that make us even more anxious about our uncertain futures.
People face a barrage of decisions every day — potentially as many as 35,000 per day, according to Sahakian and LaBuzetta.1 Not all of those decisions are earth-shattering or even that important. In our humanness, it’s also normal to mess up once in a while. But for the serious professional or interest-group influencer, making decisions and taking deliberate action paints the path toward success or failure, thriving or surviving, building a legacy, or crumbling in defeat. Minimizing the number of mistakes we make must be an ongoing goal.
Yet, reducing errors and engaging in confident decision-making isn’t easy. It requires being brutally honest about what you’ve been taught, confronting your biases, and understanding how you (and your compatriots) think.
In this book, you’ll learn that you have two primary mindsets living inside of you — we all do! We call these the Missionary and the Mercenary. The Missionary is a mindset in which you can see infinite possibilities and are driven by a higher calling you’ll seldom take credit for. The Mercenary is a mindset in which possibilities are finite and your winning aspiration will always be defined by a victory based on deliberate action.
Another way to view these mindsets is as a contrast between idealism and pragmatism. The idealist has a single path that guides them into the future. They subvert all of their individual goals against that ideal course of action. And they will tolerate underperformance or even failure if it means staying true to their principles.
The pragmatist employs, with great dexterity, compromise (or even betrayal) to get things done. Mercenaries commonly work in fierce competition with others, whose inability to bend the rules or their own ethics can be used successfully against them. The problem with the pragmatist is that they’re always chasing somebody else’s dream. They are the hired gun who produces outcomes others cannot, but they never pursue dreams of their own beyond the next engagement.
Each of these mindsets — Missionary and Mercenary, idealist and pragmatist — contrasts the other and has its own opportunities and assets, strengths and weaknesses. Many people subconsciously identify as leaning toward one and not the other. We all suffer frustrations due to the accidental, subconscious application of these opposing mindsets. But what if we could master them both, assuming both exist in us all, at all times?
The mindset that should be more dominant depends entirely on your situation. Neither mindset is universally “best” – when you use each mindset, intentionally adjusting the balance between the two, it becomes possible to take control of every situation to optimize opportunities and outcomes alike. Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek recognized that innovation is made up of this ability to put both pragmatism and idealism to work. In a tweet on X (formerly Twitter),2 Sinek asserted that:
“Pure pragmatism can’t imagine a bold future. Pure idealism can’t get anything done. It is the delicate blend of both that drives innovation.”
– Simon Sinek
The word “balance” is intentional and a better word to use than Sinek’s “blend” when discussing the Missionary and Mercenary mindsets. Blend implies more of one mindset automatically translates to less of the other. Balance means both mindsets coexist in harmony, just as bass and treble can harmonize disparate voices musically to form a better chord. Making progress requires people to use both mindsets, rather than to disregard one or the other and sacrifice the advantages a balance would offer.
Achieving a flexible balance of the Missionary and Mercenary mindsets is particularly necessary for people of influence leading their stakeholders through ambiguous circumstances. Although companies and individuals have always been competitive and faced challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges we haven’t confronted in more than a century and elevated economic uncertainty in every aspect of life. Many of these effects are still being felt years later, and their consequences might continue for decades into the future.
At the same time, people are seriously reexamining traditional ways of thinking and acting. They face crossroads-style choices about what they hope to build, aspire to grow, are able to maintain, or will allow to decay. In this context, it’s more important than ever that people and businesses become more skillful at applying the right mindset, in the correct balance. Learning to do this well limits our mistakes and avoids making enemies on our journey toward a lasting legacy of productivity and performance.
A quick search on Amazon suggests multiple books that highlight the Missionary versus Mercenary concept. Those texts, however, typically pit the Missionary and Mercenary against each other in an argument over which is best, with the majority leaning in favor of the Missionary. This trend might stem from the focus on creating a more compassionate corporate environment or simply resisting the urge to make everything about financial returns.
Our book is distinct in that it portrays both the Missionary and Mercenary as vital, with both needing to coexist and lead action at appropriate times. This balance is foundational for individuals and organizations to endure in a competitive world of accelerating change.
Preparing for your journey and transformation
As you move through the following ten chapters, consider Joseph Campbell’s description of the hero’s narrative from The Hero With a Thousand Faces:3 A hero’s journey is divided into three sections — departure (including separation), initiation, and return. The departure includes a call to go on an adventure, which the hero, usually after being poked and prodded by a mentor, reluctantly accepts. The initiation includes the hero traveling into “innermost caves” where trials, tasks, and crises can be confronted.
By facing and overcoming obstacles, the hero experiences apotheosis and becomes elevated to a higher level, which culminates in the earning of a reward. The hero, transformed by the adventure, then returns with their reward and uses it to benefit others. We hope that, through this book, you experience your own apotheosis. Learning the superpower of mindset balancing can propel you and your teammates to greater success.
As brothers, each of us sees the world differently. Rather than allow differences in point of view to hinder us, we appreciate the unique perspective each of us brings to the other. We recognize that, by learning the strengths and weaknesses we have for both Missionary and Mercenary perspectives, we can converge our talents and skills for a more significant, satisfying, and lasting outcome. Whether you’re reflecting on how to improve your own habits and behaviors, or want to bring your organization to a dominant position in your category, our hope is that the insights on these pages will help you tap into similar benefits.
How should I use this book?
This book includes nine chapters organized into three sections, closing with an epilogue chapter. Each section corresponds to the three stages which insights must pass through as they transform into action — Discovery, Optimality, and Simulation. These stages may sound familiar, as they parallel the hero’s journey — departure, initiation, and return.
Figure 1: Missionary-Mercenary pendulum
Figure 1 shows how progressing through this book will guide you through your own hero’s journey to a more productive and disciplined application of both mindsets. Although you might be tempted to jump around, each chapter is a forward progression into the next, so we recommend that you read the chapters in order first. This sequencing will ensure that you have the foundational terminology and concepts necessary to understand and transition to the next concept. When you reach the final chapter, Chapter 10: Champion, you will be able to pull all of the insights from the previous chapters together, and you will see how you can better advocate and take action for yourself and your teammates.
The hero’s journey of Discovery-Optimality-Simulation is also known as the Insights-to-Action Supercycle. This process is paralleled in the sinusoid or “S-curve” model that innovation and strategy professionals sometimes use to describe the developmental stages of business growth.
The first stage of the hero’s journey, where the Missionary and Mercenary are introduced to each other, represents Discovery. It corresponds to Stage 1 of the S-curve where companies figure out their options for bringing products to the marketplace. Disruptive innovation punctuates the end of Stage 1 of the new S-curve by eroding the market share of incumbents.
Next comes Optimality and the second stage of the hero’s journey, where innovators enjoy fast volume growth as a result of selecting clearly defined superiority criteria the market will continue to reward with share. At the end of this second stage, humility is a prerequisite to changing your angle of attack. Angles of attack is the system of four generic growth strategies available to be optimized by slowing the improvement of your offer, leveling out the slope of the S-curve, and avoiding overshoot into market segments with insufficient demand to support your cost structure. This discipline is essential to achieving sustainable growth and protecting profit margins. The Missionary and Mercenary do the bulk of their learning in this second stage.
Finally, the third stage of the hero’s journey, where the Missionary and Mercenary balance the relationship between their perspectives, is represented in Simulation. It corresponds to the third stage of the S-curve in which the growth of the organization has leveled off, alongside slowing unit sales of the offer.
Once you have completed the book, we invite you to return to any of the chapters for additional reflection and practice. It is certain that particular chapters will require greater attention given your unique experiences, biases, or personality. You also might find that some chapters resonate more deeply as you and your teammates encounter different challenges or circumstances. We hope that this book will be one you connect with for years to come and that you will explore it in a way that feels truly customized to who you are and who you are becoming.
Before you begin, a quick word about some of the risks we’ve decided to take with the material you might or might not like. The premiere edition of this book includes a healthy measure of our own shared Christian faith journey as taught by our parents, our influencers, and our personal experiences. We do not intend these observations to offend those who believe or have experienced something different. We’ve been guided through life by universal principles we have noticed everyone can benefit from, regardless of cultural background. There is a risk you will emerge from your encounter with this material as a changed person.
The basic premise of the Insights-to-Action Supercycle is that an individual or organization can find a way to win in any environment, and that they can hone and test their available options. Champions, as you’ll discover soon enough (in Chapter 10: Champion), are called to ensure their teammates strive after victories they are equipped to win.
Consider someone who invests hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of their life striving to become a physician. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the attrition rate for medical students in four-year programs is between 15.7% and 18.4%.4 Obviously, medical school is not for everyone. When it becomes apparent a person is built for something else, it’s no longer ethical for a medical school or licensing board to keep taking that person’s money. In fact, that’s why less than 20% of applicants are accepted in the first place. It would be better if a Champion — a parent, peer, or mentor — stepped in to help the individual redefine what winning means to them, possibly as becoming something other than a doctor.
This volume represents a developing platform of ideas. It is not an unchanging understanding of the current state of the art to be written, read, and shelved. We’re actively working on additional tools and techniques to make the ideas more useful. You’ll soon see a podcast exploring others’ attitudes and experiences, as well as diagnostic tools to help reveal opportunities and assets that drive or encourage your own improvements and those of your teammates.
What began during the COVID-19 pandemic as an explanation of how to cope with recalibrating our businesses to survive the lockdown and its aftermath, we’ve accepted that our work on the Missionary and Mercenary has only just begun. The process of writing this book itself exemplifies the benefits of transforming insights into action, as explained in Discovery, Optimality, and Simulation.
In an upcoming chapter, we’ll use a jigsaw puzzle analogy to explain what happens through this process. You throw your pieces on the table to see what you’re working with, identify missing pieces, and build a border around the perimeter of your puzzle (Discovery). Next, you fill in the less obvious interior pieces of the puzzle so you can see the entire picture (Optimality). Finally, you must prevent your family, coworkers, or friends from wrecking your puzzle by turning over the table or boxing the pieces back up again (Simulation).
During drafting of the original book manuscript, we threw all the dozens of concepts we had outlined on the table and figured out which pieces would be our perimeter boundary. Once all the content was “right-side up” and a boundary was in place, we made sure all the other pieces were linked inside the border in a cohesive, logical, and functional way to frame the overall vision of the completed book. We then tested and strengthened our ideas with beta readers to translate the book into more easily digestible prose with a format that takes you more progressively through the process.
We hope you’ll see the insights-to-action model applies to a range of sense-making endeavors and that the volume in your hands will find relevance as you use it in your work and private life. We encourage you to share your journey and growth with others who can learn from the process. When we embark on change together, we’re more likely to succeed, and the degree of our success grows exponentially alongside others we are concerned about and care for.
Thank you for your willingness to explore a new way of looking at yourself and the world around you. May you be inspired and blessed as you begin this exciting new journey.
Questions to activate these ideas
As you begin, take a moment to reflect on how you have already used Missionary and Mercenary perspectives in your own life. Can you recall a time when you were too idealistic (Missionary) or too pragmatic (Mercenary) for the situation confronting you? What went wrong because of this imbalance? How is our introduction of these perspectives generating ideas you might act upon differently? What new questions have we brought to mind?
References:
Barbara Sahakian and Jamie LaBuzetta, Bad moves: how decision making goes wrong, and the ethics of smart drugs (London: Oxford University Press, 2013).
Simon Sinek (@simonsinek). (2022). “Pure pragmatism can’t imagine a bold future. Pure idealism can’t get anything done. It is the delicate blend of both that drives innovation,” Twitter, September 23,
John Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces (Novato: New World Library, 2008).
“Graduation Rates and Attrition Rates of U.S. Medical Students,” Association of American Medical Colleges, October 2023. Accessed August 4, 2024, https://www.aamc.org/media/48526/download#:~:text=AAMC%20Data%20Snapshot,-From%201998-1999&text=The%20national%20total%20attrition%20rate,3.2%25%20over%20those%2020%20years.