“Power resides only where men believe it resides. It’s a trick, a shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

For the uninitiated, Game of Thrones is an HBO television series based on the books by George R.R. Martin. Its successful first season garnered it no small number of awards and mentions, dotting its name across the Emmy Awards and Golden Globes.

Unsurprisingly, its intriguing, wildly historical-fiction style plot captivated a few of our team members early on in its release. And we started to think about how so many of the events in the storyline mirror business--the good, the bad, and the occasional beheadings.

So what can Game of Thrones teach us about business?


Power and authority are not the same

The multiple plotlines of Game of Thrones are driven by the lust for power and the ensuing clashes of sword on sword and assumed authority on assumed authority. In the world of business, such clashes would be similarly devastating. At the root of the conflict, however, lies a larger discrepancy: power and authority are not one in the same.

As Queen Cersei demonstrated in the beginning of the second season, when another character of less prominence attempted a snarky remark hinting at blackmail, power is the ability to take an action immediately.

Snidely, Littlefinger smiled at Cersei. “Knowledge is power,” he tells her. She returns his smile and curtly demonstrates that she can have her guards gut him like a fish.

“Power is power,” she tells him.

But power in the workplace is less black and white as those waving swords around might have us believe. While an employee might have the ability to take an action, they certainly might not have the authority to do so. Unlike power, authority is the given right to take the action. Cersei’s authority stems from her power—but the moment that her power is usurped, her ability to take action interrupted by force or fate, her authority will no longer be given.

The important thing to take away from this is that while some might attempt to play their cards like Cersei, authority is the real focus of organizational hierarchy for businesses. Especially in project management, actions are more effective long-term when done with authority—and, ideally, respect. Like the characters who use their authority to benefit those around them, not all power is negative.

You must decide who you serve and serve them well

In Game of Thrones, the king of the seven nations dies and war breaks out between the multiple houses which each claim the throne. Alliances are made and broken, surrenders suggested and carried out, treaties formed and betrayed, traitors executed and exalted.

Throughout the Game of Thrones saga, this is critical not only for the lower class folk, but for the lords and ladies, whose loyalty is questioned with increasing frequency as the narrative continues. Those, like Sansa, a lady of House Stark which opposes House Lannister which seizes the throne, who question their loyalty face unexpected consequences and suffering—Sansa is chosen to marry Joffrey Baratheon, who executes her father shortly after being crowned king.

As in Game of Thrones, a business is not unlike its own country, complete with a governing system and an economy. It has goals, plans and occasionally marketing artillery designed to take on the competition. Each of these can fall apart without a solid definition of who you are serving. Just as Sansa and many of the Game of Thrones characters could attest, attempting to please everyone and loose loyalty rarely end well.

Indeed, the best businesses do one thing for their clients well, and those clients have their unfaltering attention.

Maintaining integrity is essential

If the peasants had a Gold Dragon coin for each time one of the characters did something morally questionable, Westeros would be devoid of peasants in a week. Game of Thrones hasn’t beat around the bush when it comes to pushing the limits of integrity.

However, none of their actions go without consequences. Those who betray their friends are swept up and spat out by the war, those who sell information pay with everything dear to them, and those who act selfishly on their own agenda go face-to-face with three temperamental dragons. If George R.R. Martin was sure that one thing did not get left out of his ongoing series, it was the consequences for immoral actions. If you pay attention, you’ll see the karmic weave in the storyline.

Such it can be in business. Businesses that maintain their integrity tend to thrive better and longer than those that don’t (shameless plug: we’ve been here for 12 years and counting!). In partnerships and contracts, like alliances and treaties, an ethical practice helps keep you from getting burned—by dragons or lawyers. And ultimately, the castles we build in business with integrity are the only that remain.

Tell us, do you find any comparisons between Game of Thrones and the business world?