Gordian Knot

The oracle decreed that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart should become their king.

The Phrygians, the people who lived in present-day Türkiye (Turkey) were without a leader at the moment. This was somewhere in the neighborhood of about 3000 years ago.

The next person driving an ox-cart into the city turned out to be a peasant farmer named Gordias. He was immediately declared king, and the city of Gordium was named after him.

Gordias’s son, Midas, dedicated the ox-cart to the Phrygian god Sabazios (identified with Zeus by the Greeks), and then tied it to a post with an incredibly intricate knot. Midas made sure that the Gordian Knot, as it came to be known, had multiple knots woven together in perplexing ways.

A second prophecy formed around this Knot: whoever could unravel it was destined to become ruler of all of Asia. The Gordian Knot came to be viewed as an intractable, unsolvable problem all around the surrounding region.

Alexander was a smart kid. He had Aristotle for a personal tutor, and besides being whip-smart, he was incredibly bold.

When he was just 13 years old, he had already created a legend around himself, famously mounting a dangerous horse named Bucephalus, who then became fast friends with young Alexander.

Now 22 years old, he was ready for more challenges, and Gordium called out to him. Nervous anticipation and healthy skepticism hung in the air as Alexander approached the Knot. The onlookers expected a frustrating, painstaking attempt to unravel the tight tangles of rope.

That’s not what Alexander did, though.

Instead, he walked right up to the Knot, took his sword out, and cut it in half.

Thwack!

This story is legendary, and there are certainly plenty of elements that are… let’s say “fuzzy” from a historical perspective. Nevertheless, people have told this story for more than 2300 years. Let’s think a little about what it means.

Alexander’s bold action could be seen in a few different ways.

First, the more obvious take: decisive action is needed to solve intractable problems. Since Alexander really did go on to rule much of Asia (as the Greeks understood it), it seems like he was the right leader to cut through the knots on his way to conquering kingdom after kingdom.

Complex problems often do require innovative solutions. Today, we’re faced with geopolitical quagmires and existential risks that will demand boldness. “Thinking outside of the box” sums this up well.

Perhaps a less obvious take (although it’s obvious to me) is that cutting through the knot wasn’t the best idea. After all, Alexander was dead within a decade. This interpretation sees destroying the intricate knot as undoing a tremendous amount of work, and not necessarily in a good way.

The way Alexander dealt with the knot was pure brute force. Don’t think, act! isn’t really a great mantra for leadership. All of the knowledge that went into the knot was instantly destroyed in an impatient, impulsive onslaught.

How do you interpret the legend? Is this mainly a story about how bold action is needed to solve problems, or is it more of a cautionary tale of the dangers in rushing forward?