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WORK SMART

I did things my way. I thought it was the smart way, now people call it the Great way.

After winning the Battle of Gordium in 333 BC, I solved the legendary mystery of the Gordian knot.

What was this famous knot?

According to Greek legend, Gordius was a poor peasant who had this intricately tied knot, called, you guessed it, the Gordian knot. He used the knot to secure his oxcart. An oracle had told the people that their future king would present himself riding in a wagon. Seeing Gordius’ oxcart, they made him king. For his gratitude, Gordius was wise enough to dedicate his oxcart to Zeus, tying it up with this knot.

Another oracle then proceeded to state that the man that could undo this knot would become the uncontested, unanimous ruler of Asia, sort of like the holder of all those boxing titles in the modern era, if you wish.

Suffice to say that it was quite in vogue to try to undo this knot, but no one came close.

No one until, take a guess… you got that right: yours truly!

By 333 BC, I had liberated Asia Minor from the Persians and found myself in the town of Gordium in the central mountains. I was thirty-three and had been in power for three years. I was undefeated by now, having already crossed the symbolic Hellespont across Granicus River. Effectively, I dealt a psychological but fairly small blow to the Persian Empire and my nemesis, King Darius III Codomannus.

As such, I had yet to demonstrate what I could really do. I needed to constantly remind my men of the virtue in their mission: to free the world, conquer Persia and export Greek culture. But doing so took more than words; it took action. So across this knot I came. The knot sat next to the Temple of Zeus Basilica for over a hundred years.

There was no way that I would breeze through this city without trying to undo the knot. The problem was that the ends were tucked away inside the knot.

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