adminHector Moyo
I am in my old age realising that I am more and more being attracted to two concepts in life, that of competitive advantage and excellence.
The two concepts are complementary, come to think of it.
In fact, there are two things that attract my attention in these two concepts.
The one is that these are wholesome concepts which are both physically and emotionally satisfying. The other point of attraction is that you begin to see less and less of these concepts being applied in reality, despite their wholesomeness.
The question that then begs to be answered is ‘how is it possible to have this inverse relationship between a good concept and its practical application?’
All those who did not attend the recent launch of my book did not only miss the good food and networking, but also the many rich social and spiritual pickings.
For instance, the one pertinent piece of information you missed was the announcement that in the New Year, the columnist will be focusing on a higher calling – that of publishing.
This of necessity means that I need to ‘pass the baton’ with regard to my current calling as columnist – any takers?
We today want to focus on a concept known as ‘strategy’, strategy in relation to the lives we lead. We are saying strategy is the main driver of many of the things we do in life, hence it is imperative that we interrogate it in the HR column.
Strategy will lead us to competitive advantage and excellence in the things we do.
We do not want to take the analysis at too high a level, lest we lose too many followers.
We just want to appreciate the principles and concepts thereof, for all small/big things can be reduced to principles or concepts, I always argue.
Strategy defined
In a simple and more practical way, strategy is a term that refers to a complex web of thoughts, ideas, goals and expectations that provides general guidance for specific actions in pursuit of particular ends.
The main drivers of strategy are clearly the existence of purpose (drive) towards certain outcomes. It is also pertinent to note that the term was first crafted in the military, where no one plans to lose a battle as this has a bearing on life or death.
Thus all strategies were crafted with success in mind. The question to answer is whether or not the term carries the same seriousness when used in industry and commerce, or when applied in the lives of individuals like you and me?
Infants as examples of great strategists
I have always considered infants to be great strategists though they look very vulnerable. They are results driven in all they do.
When they fall hungry, they simply cry and the cry cannot be ignored – the mother has to simply oblige. The mother either imagines what the infant wants or she can go through a check list.
Hungry? No, the baby has just been suckling. Change of nappy? Yes, the result of too much suckling! In rare occasions it can be constipation in which case gripe water becomes handy.
Witness how the infant gets results even quicker at night. In the middle of the night, the infant just has to start the chorus and results come in fast!
The mother is keen not to annoy the father or she will be told to move to the spare room with child. The result is that the infant gets sorted out fast!
I suppose the Almighty knew that the infant had to be protected against these adults who are otherwise less responsible and the protection came in the form of a sharp voice!
Strategy socially
As youth, the only time we applied strategy to any meaningful measure was during courtship. I no longer see this happening these days.
Our grandparents would tell us that during their times courtship could even last years – it sometimes even involved going to work in the fields of your future in-laws, if only to show commitment.
Personal qualities such as focus and determination, amongst others, were therefore key. Sadly, you see less and less of these qualities in both youth and adults of today!
Publishing
I read an article on publishing a few months back, just before embarking on a journey to self- publish my book.
It was not a very encouraging article I must say, almost begging would – be publishers to think again. The message was quite clear – leave this to established publishers or else your idea will never see the light of day. I personally translate these negatives into opportunities.
Using the concept of strategy, this message simply meant that there is a challenge in publishing and that one needs to approach it with tact! What are the things to watch out for if one has to see the journey of publishing to its logical conclusion? Some of the key steps are:- keep your costs low without compromising quality, look for a good but affordable editor, be very alert when it comes to quality of printing, etc. A general who does not get involved in wars does not stand much chance in winning them – get involved.
The steps are applicable in everything we do, in case you do not realise!
Take home this week
Strategy is as good a concept as are the results one gets from employing the concept. However, what is clear is that you cannot get good and predictable results if there is no expenditure of energy (mental and physical), where issues of strategy are concerned. Mediocrity is not permissible in the world of strategy, lest the idea dies!
The results of employing strategy are always pleasing – excellence.
Let us all strive to employ strategy in whatever we do, in order to ensure predictability and excellence of results.
I am currently working on a marketing strategy for my book ‘Passing the Baton Stick’.
The strategy has to yield positive results otherwise her highness will never allow me to embark on volume two! I therefore duly need to rest my case for today.
Send your views to e-mail address hecandbe@ gmail.com or sms 0777556081 or tweet @batonstick..
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