Skip to main content

Strategy Basics

In the last article, we discussed a very simple example of using strategy to determine the actions to take to accomplish a goal. In that example, there were 3 factors that needed to be taken into account and one red herring (misleading clue):
Factors:
  • How quickly I need to get there (i.e. when the bus will arrive)
  • Traffic Patterns
  • Risk of crossing the street on a red light
Red herring:
  • Which light changed to green first

Every situation is unique, and must be analyzed to understand which aspects are relevant. You have to determine what you can use to your advantage and what obstacles should be avoided.


There are 5 high level concepts involved in a successful strategy. 

Determination
Your determination to achieve your objective must be greater than the forces in play to prevent it.

Timing
They say that timing is everything. The same actions will have different effects depending on when they are done.

Environment
Your environment is the field that the game is being played on. Know the people involved and how they react to different stimuli. Understand the possible pitfalls and risks. Determine who will help you and who will oppose you.

Leadership/Direction
Develop a vision of not only the specific objective that you want to achieve, but also everything that surrounds it. Show leadership by taking responsibility. Build a support system of both people who mentor you as well as people who you mentor.

Methodology
Write an implementation plan that includes the objective and all the obstacles that you believe are blocking you. Go through all the obstacles one at a time and determine what needs to be done to mitigate them.


Understanding these 5 concepts will enable you to achieve your objectives and overcome obstacles.

In the next article, we’ll go through a practical example of using strategy to get a promotion

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Strategy in your daily life

So how do we use strategy in our everyday life? It should be used whenever you want to achieve something to which there is no obvious answer. While the shortest path between two points is a straight line, it is often not practical or possible to follow it. There are factors and ramifications involved in the different methods and stages of getting from Point A to Point B. Strategy is understanding what is involved, weighing the pros and cons and consciously deciding the best method for you. As a very basic, practical example: You are standing on the corner of a busy street (A) and need to get to the bus stop on the corner diagonal from you. The bus that you need is going to turn left at the corner to get to the bus stop. You need to cross 2 streets to get to that bus stop. Do you first cross From A to B or from A to C? Most people don’t think about it - whichever light turns green first is the road they are going to cross. It is the same distance to the bus stop no matter which ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reward vs Risk

 When developing a strategy, there are 2 opposing concepts that must be balanced - Risk and Reward. There are two known philosophies to take into account when determining the methodologies: “The best offense is a good defense”.  “The best defense is a good offense” Understanding these 2 philosophies and when each is appropriate, is a key factor in determining a plan of action. Generally speaking, risk and reward are proportionate - the greater risk a person is willing to take (potential loss), the higher the potential for reward. For example, there are different bets you can make at a roulette wheel. If you have $1000 to gamble and pick a specific number to bet it on, you have the opportunity to win $35,000, whereas if you pick red/black you only have the opportunity of winning $1,000. In both cases, the odds are that you are going to lose, but the risk is much greater when choosing a specific number. When choosing an objective, you have to understand what you want to accompli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Searching for a new job

  Looking for a new position can be a very frustrating process. You have the right education and experience for the position you are interested in. You go to a job board or two and send in your resume to a number of positions that you feel qualified for and - nothing. Sometimes you get a rejection notice, sometimes they tell you that if you’re a match they will be in touch, and sometimes you don’t hear anything. How can you use strategy to better your odds? The first thing to understand is that job boards are often filled with posts by placement agencies. Placement agencies often enter fake jobs in order to get your resume into their files. So not every job that you see listed is an actual current opportunity. Placement agencies also are generally unfamiliar with the specific technologies that the hiring company is looking for. Because of this, they are looking for very specific key words and if there isn’t a direct match, they won’t forward it on even if you have experience with t...
Post a Comment
Read more