adminBen Chiganze Bass Fisherman Approach
Alan and I took our six cousins to Gwebi river mouth in Darwendale Dam for fishing last weekend.
Given that our boat could only accommodate four, the other four (herein referred to as Johnnie Walkers) had to fish from the banks.
The boat is more comfortable and makes fishing easier. When pulling the bass it is easier to pull towards the boat where there are fewer weeds.
Pulling big bass is a bit difficult if one is pulling from the banks as in most cases the fish gets entangled in the weeds and in some cases one loses the catch.
In addition fishing from the banks is uncomfortable as the fisherman will fish at times when water is at the waist level in the weeds.
Some of the weeds cause the water to be either too warm or causes the skin to be itchy. Furthermore some weeds attract some insects which inflict very painful bites to the fisherman.
Alan and I were in the boat and we were convinced that the game was skewed in our favour.
We were fairly comfortably seated in the boat and playing ‘old school music’ and enjoying our food and drinks.
Everything seemed to be going our way. We sailed both sides of the Gwebi River mouth which stretches for about six kilometres.
On the other hand, our colleagues who were fishing from the banks just managed to cover only 800 metres of one side of Gwebi River mouth.
We quickly covered areas we thought were productive but our fellow “Johnie Walkers” just managed to cover a relatively shorter distance.
However, the effectiveness of any economic activity is judged by how the customers respond to it.
In this case the “Johnie Walkers” caught more bass than all of us who were in the boat.
One of the “Johnie Walkers” gave an assessment of our lukewarm performance by saying: “Tourists are not under any pressure to perform.’’
Indeed we were reduced to mere admirers of nature in a river full of opportunities.
We were covering the river faster than them but they were catching better than us.
It is very easy to be satisfied with one’s comforts’ and forget to continually perform better to maintain or increase those ‘comforts’.
Tourists have no long term interest in the places they visit (in most cases) just like uncommitted company staff.
It is not how fast one covers the distance but how effectively and efficiently one does so.
Technology enables and facilitates performance but human attitude and effort plays a bigger part in attainment of objectives. A boat is just an enabler but it is not an end in itself.
Over the past 20 years I have witnessed relatively small companies growing their business empires faster than the existing big companies.
In some cases these big companies choose to ignore the impact of these new entrants until all their market is gone. Most people forget that brands remain strong only if the customers perceive them to be. As long as there is a misalignment between customer needs and the company’s offerings, the company’s brands survival will be threatened.
Success brings with it complacency. Employees and management take turns to “sleep on the wheel”. In any case who can take a “tourist” to task for taking a “three-hour” nap in the afternoon.
Most successful companies take customers for granted.
They don’t concentrate in satisfying customers’ needs. They merely fulfil the commitment without taking time to understand whether their solutions are adequate.
This is similar to behaviour (in the boat).We thought fishing is merely covering the length and breadth of the dam without fully exploiting the sites we visited.
Though the odds were against the “Johnnie Walkers”, they demonstrated that concentrating in your activity is a key success factor in any business endeavour. Are the employees and management of your company ‘tourists’ or staff members?
It is not a deniable fact that adequate capitalisation is a strategic imperative. Nevertheless well capitalised companies which are run by people with low motivational fit are bound to fail.
It is my encouragement this year to all to take away your “tourist” jacket and work harder as if you are fishing from the banks even if you own a luxury boat.
A burning desire to succeed fertilises the fruit of your future achievement.
The writer is a Managing Consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail [email protected]
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