When a small Vietnamese team outsmarts a giant

His company was bidding for a major project against a global industry leader. The gap in resources, brand power, and technology was enormous.

"It felt like David versus Goliath," he said. "We had no chance if we fought the usual way."

So his Vietnamese team chose not to fight the usual way.

They did three things the giant could not.

They went deeper.

Instead of relying on templates and reputation, the team studied every angle of the client's situation.

While the multinational submitted a polished 50-page proposal, the Vietnamese team sent a concise 10-page document – but only after spending three full weeks interviewing the client's staff at every level.

They understood the client's pain points even better than the client did.

They used timing, agility, and relationships, all advantages that large players often underestimate or overlook.

When the results were announced, the smaller team won.

After the celebration, my friend said quietly: "Now I understand why Vietnam survived so many wars. You don't fight the fight, you reshape it."

He was right.

Bach Dang River: A river of war, or a river of wisdom?

His story brought me back to my visit to the Bach Dang River in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam, a place where the soul of Vietnam still whispers through water and mud.

About twenty kilometers from the city center, passing through the mist and silence of Thuy Nguyen, I finally arrived at a place I had long wanted to see.

The rain poured endlessly. My raincoat was soaked through.

Yet something urged me forward.

There stood the shrines of Vietnam's great heroes – Ngo Quyen, Tran Hung Dao, and Le Dai Hanh – and beyond them, the field of wooden stakes that once trapped invading fleets.

Here, Vietnamese ancestors faced powers far greater than themselves and prevailed.

They mastered the tide, turning nature into an ally. Victory came not through sheer force, but through wisdom – understanding timing, terrain, and the human mind.

Standing by the river, I was struck by how Vietnam's history is both triumphant and tragic. Through more than a thousand years of conflict – against Chinese dynasties, French colonial forces, and American military power – Vietnamese people learned to adapt, survive, and rise again.

At Bach Dang, the strategy was breathtakingly simple yet profound.

Wooden stakes were planted beneath the riverbed, invisible at high tide. As the water rose, enemy ships were lured in and advanced confidently. When the tide receded, their vessels were impaled and trapped.

Vietnam won not through might, but through mind.

This was 'guerrilla thinking' at its finest, centuries before the term even existed.

From Ngo Quyen's defeat of the Southern Han in 938, to Tran Hung Dao's victory over the Mongols in 1288, and much later to resistance against French and American forces, a familiar pattern emerged: outsmart, outlast, and out-adapt.

Vietnam never fought giants head-on.

It created conditions where its own advantages mattered most.

How history shapes Vietnamese mindset

Centuries of war forged a people who learned to adapt, survive, and rise again. That deep current of resilience still flows quietly within the national character today.

Vietnamese ancestors knew when to hide, when to strike, and when to turn mountains, jungles, and rivers into silent allies. They transformed weakness into wisdom.

This 'guerrilla mindset' still shapes Vietnamese character today – adaptable, practical, and quick to seize opportunity.

Yet every strength has its shadow.

The same instinct for improvisation can sometimes lead to shortcuts or short-term fixes that hurt long-term outcomes. These traits were born from survival, not comfort.

Understanding this context helps outsiders move beyond stereotypes and appreciate the deeper logic behind Vietnamese behaviors, especially in business.

Four reflections from Bach Dang River

The Bach Dang River offers four powerful reflections on identity, strategy, character, and insight.

First, it reminds us to remember where we come from. Identity is shaped by both glory and pain. A nation's history, its victories as well as its hardships, helps explain how its people think, make decisions, and act today.

Second, it teaches us to learn from strategy, not just from victory. Ngo Quyen and Tran Hung Dao did not triumph simply by fighting harder than their enemies. They succeeded by understanding the rhythm of nature and using it to their advantage. True strategy often means working with your environment, not against it.

Third, it shows how context creates character. Centuries of conflict helped shape a mindset that values flexibility, adaptability, and speed. These qualities remain strengths in Vietnamese ways of working though they can also reveal certain blind spots.

Finally, it encourages us to turn heritage into insight. In cross-cultural work, Vietnam's history provides a powerful lens. It helps others not only understand Vietnam, but also feel the spirit behind its resilience.

As an intercultural trainer, I often draw on Vietnamese history, not to glorify the past, but to explain the logic behind present-day behavior: how people think, make decisions, and collaborate across cultures.

The Bach Dang Framework for modern business

Vietnam today continues to surprise the world as a rising economic force. Yet the lesson of the Bach Dang River stretches far beyond war. It is not simply a story of military triumph, but a masterclass in strategy under constraint.

When scale is not your advantage, adaptability becomes one. When power is uneven, timing matters more. When effort alone is not enough, strategy makes the difference.

The victories of Ngo Quyen and Tran Hung Dao were not achieved by fighting harder than their enemies. They succeeded by understanding terrain, rhythm, and psychology — and by turning limitations into leverage. Their insight was simple but powerful: work with the environment, not against it.

For modern business leaders and entrepreneurs, the Bach Dang mindset offers practical guidance. The first principle is to know your terrain better than anyone else. Global giants understand industries broadly, but smaller players win by mastering their niche deeply. They may know 'enterprise software.' You know "enterprise software for Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs with 200–500 employees." Depth creates defensibility. Precision creates advantage.

The second principle is to use time as a weapon. Large corporations have capital, brand recognition and manpower. Smaller organizations have speed. Decisions can be made in hours rather than weeks. Products can be adjusted quickly. Opportunities can be seized before competitors complete internal reviews. In many markets, speed alone is a decisive edge.

The third principle is to reshape the battle. If you cannot compete on price or brand visibility, compete on service quality, customization, and relationships. Like the wooden stakes at Bach Dang, fragile on their own, yet unstoppable when placed at the right time and in the right place, small advantages, strategically positioned, can alter the entire outcome.

The Bach Dang Framework ultimately reminds us that strategy is not about possessing greater power. It is about understanding context, leveraging constraints, and applying intelligence at precisely the right moment.

A question for you

When you stand before a place from your nation's past, what quiet wisdom still flows within it?

In your work or life, have you ever faced a 'giant' and realized that winning was not about strength, but about strategy and timing?

What is your Bach Dang strategy?