Design Lessons from Genghis Khan

About a month ago, I was complaining to a friend about a book report I needed to write in my history class. The report was to be on historian J. J. Saunders’s book History of the Mongol Conquests. I was behind schedule on a design project, under prepared for a week of midterms, and not excited to add a book report on my list of things to do.

What was my friend’s suggestion? “Maybe there’s some design principles in there that you could write an article about for the design review.”

“What a stupid idea,” I thought. What about the life of Genghis Khan and the Mongol conquest of Eurasia could possibly be relevant to design?

Turns out, quite a bit. I read a few chapters that night, and couldn’t help but see the connections. Once the design project was done and the midterms taken, I picked up the book, finished reading it, and wrote the essay. It took me a little over 24 hours, and I submitted it right before it was due at 11:59:23pm. To save you from the hassle of cramming for your own book report, and to remind us that design principles are scattered throughout all fields of study, I’ll summarize three design lessons we can take from the conqueror who established the largest land empire in world history.

Take extra horses

The Mongol army could travel 80 miles per day [1]. While many factors contributed to their speed, primary among them was their warrior to horse ratio. Every soldier had about 4 horses to go with each of them [2]. When one horse would get tired and slow down, the soldier would switch mounts, giving the tired horse a break. Investing in extra horses for their army enabled everyone to keep a faster pace.

Is there anything that you could invest in that would make you faster, or more efficient? I was on a robotics team in elementary school. We had a program to drive the robot ten rotations forward and turn. However, over the course of the day the distance would get shorter and the turns less sharp. The cause? Dying batteries. After identifying batteries as the cause of the problem, we made it a priority to always have fully charged batteries on standby for the rest of the year.

Whether it's extra horses or extra batteries, we could all use more of something to perform better. Consider the importance of having more good tools. Dave Laws wrote that “you cannot do the job right with the wrong tools… when your people have the right tools, they will use them to incredible effect and the results will indeed amaze you [3].” In addition to tools, think about any habits or skills you’d like to develop to be more efficient. You won’t be disappointed.

Team work makes the dream work

Genghis Khan implemented many policies and strategies during his reign, changing the way the Mongols organized their army and ran their empire. Before Genghis Khan, the standard for Mongol/Turkish armies had been to organize their troops by family and clan. Genghis Khan ditched this structure and organized his troops in groups of tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands [5]. Family and clan based armies struggled to get the proper amounts of troops to where they were needed in the middle of the battle. The Mongol army could give instructions to any amount of troops, from 10 to 10,000, and have them carried out on a dime. Commanders at all levels were also granted the autonomy to react to new developments on the field without waiting for top-down instructions.

Genghis Khan was always learning from other cultures. He actively absorbed and incorporated ideas and talented individuals from all his provinces into his bureaucracy and army. They would work as administrators, advisors, and engineers [6]. Every unit in his army was purposely blended with multiple families, tribes, and ethnic groups, and religious freedom promoted cultural unity in the Mongol empire [7]. The point? Genghis Khan circumnavigated ethnic, administrative, and political problems of the past by reorganizing and leveraging diversity to his advantage. Many design teams never reach their full potential because they can’t reconcile diverse opinions or areas of expertise, and collaboration decays into arguing. Remember that diversity is a strength, and reorganizing your team and its resources can bring the best out of everyone.

Have a purpose — but please pick a good one.

Being in the Mongol Empire had plenty of perks. Ideas and innovation spread from Persia to China, the trade and commerce was protected, and its inhabitants were free to practice any religion of their choice. But getting into the Empire was a terribly bloody process. J. J Saunders wrote, “The Mongols shook the globe, overturned empires, razed cities, and killed more human beings than any conquerors before them [8].” How did the Mongol conquests turn out to be so violent?

Of course, one factor was the deliberate practice of psychological warfare [9]. But there is another, more nuanced factor to consider. Genghis Khan and his successors believed that they were under the “Mandate of Heaven” to conquer and subdue the whole world. You’ll notice this belief in the way the Mongol governor of Persia responded to Pope Innocent IV’s plea to withdraw his assault on Europe:

“Know, O Pope… You complain we have killed many people, but we see the command of God and of him who is master of the earth. Whoever obeys us remains in possession of his land, but whoever resists is destroyed [10].”

My biggest take away from cramming this book report was that our beliefs and purpose manifest themselves in our design. For example, the Mongols did not think their ruthless campaign was a crime because they saw themselves carrying out the will of God. This is a very extreme example. More recent examples can be found in the article Racism in America, manifested in engineering design: A pledge to take responsibility and action, In America’s history, designs characterized by prejudice have perpetuated social injustice and inflicted harm where solutions could have been provided.

With everything said and done, I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed researching this book report. Genghis Khan left a very complicated legacy that is both celebrated and abhorred [11]. Asides from cool lessons about horses and administration, I hope you remember the relationship between purpose and design. Decide now on a purpose that inspires you to lead an ethical career and design products for a more sustainable society. Conquer any obstacle that stands in your way, commit to making your community a little better, and keep on riding.

Notes

[1] American Museum of Natural History, “The horse in Mongolian Culture,” https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/biodiversity/wild-horse-mongolia/horse-mongolian-culture#:~:text=Known%20in%20Europe%20as%20%E2%80%9CHell's,the%20use%20of%20the%20horse, accessed 19 Nov 2020.

[2] Wikipedia, “Mongolian Horse, As Warhorses,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_horse#As_warhorses, accessed 19 Nov 2020

[3] Laws, D., “13 Leadership Principles,” BYU Design Review, 2020, https://www.designreview.byu.edu/collections/13-leadership-principles?rq=Dave%20Laws, accessed 13 Nov 2020.

[4] Saunders, J. J. The History of the Mongol Conquests. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, pp 57

[5] Saunders, pp 63

[6] Saunders, pp 56, 66

[7] Saunders, pp 68

[8] Saunders, pp 28

[9] Saunders, pp 65

[10] Baiju, Mongol governor of Persia. Saunders, pp 96

[11] Wikipedia, “Genghis Khan, Perceptions,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan#Perceptions, accessed Nov 13 2020.