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This book is one of a kind in that it has everything in it pertaining to strategy; stuff you wont find in your university books, ideal for management students, entrepreneurs, leadership development, change management, disaster management, teambuilding, project teams, and anyone looking for new and radical ways to inspire young leaders, as well as combine their revolutionary ideas with the old school, it deals with the cardinal 34 aspects of strategy. Starting from the sociological approach right through to strategy design, delivering with a business plan. Then taking you to implementation, with critical thinking and strategy engineering, dealing with military precision practices, the likes of CAPS.. It is dated and both inspirational, a must have. If you are serious about mastering strategy, then this is the one book you must have…
Selling for around $25 (Dollars US), check online some stores have specials, and will be local as well, the eBook sells at around$3.99.
Price $25.00
Price $3.99
Whats it all about?
Its all about breaking with tradition; and Revolutionizing Strategic Management.
With A Matrix of 32 different fields of strategy; all in one book.
This is a first of its kind managerial book. It dares to Define true Radical and Revolutionary Strategic Management Competencies and Principles, by Applying both the Sociological and Military Approach towards developing and executing any plan of strategy perfectly. It gives you the edge, the inside track, of all the great leaders secrets, and knowledge, you could become the case study, and not always just have to follow it…
Great leaders had great inspiration, that comes from radical and revolutionary ideas, principles, and practices, all meshed into a capability for considerable insight, here we have exactly that… just waiting for you…
How we perceive leaders, and their characteristics, is how we will formulate a leadership role and function. It is seldom based on facts, in the main it’s more of a personal flavour we can or want to associate with, perception is seldom informed, and it is a condition, of conditioning. We see leaders the way they are portrayed in the media, by comrades, equals, friends, family, piers, and because of their status.
Therefore; developing leaders is no easy task. As we first have to change people’s perception about what leadership is, it is not a charismatic outlook, a fairy-tale, or a comic book hero. Leaders are fallible, mortal, and have a history each. This binds them, good and bad.
Leadership therefore is not a condition, a state of existence that is effective at a certain point of its life cycle, in performing specific and required functions, of whatever nature required well. No, leadership is a chosen action that is circumstantial, a leader does not lead daily, or every waken moment, no, it’s by choice. We make a conscious decision to act the part, and take the lead, and direct, command, and organise. It takes very little talent, but it does stake a lot of is confidence that comes from experience.
It never ends there either. Looking for the right raw material and trying to mould someone into a leader has proven to be a hit and miss affair. As leadership requirements differ from day-to-day, from situation to situation, and so I can site many instances. The crux of this matter is; it is never just that one thing, or two, or three or even a list, which will guarantee a good profile of leadership ability ever.
Psychology, science and academia even military tradition have also given it a go, and still, there is no one size fits all.
Part one; the current situation as it exist now
True leadership development requires very specific skills and structure, it is “truly” a matter of specifics, not “mere semantics”, the likes we have practiced and experienced at business school thus far.
Command and control have been written about for ages, and at the risk of writing yet another stereo type piece. I assure you it’s not. Management is complex and subtle, it’s challenging and diverse, and it’s also planned and specific.
However, it’s all to do with the people, and how we get them to navigate, assimilate, understand and act on these elements, that make the difference, it’s all about leadership style, and management.
This article deals with the challenges we face in leadership, and leadership shortages, training, development, and style. The challenge of addressing the shortage of great leadership in society is a huge problem. The chasm between academic qualification and doing the real job, have become huge. Lots if not most of what is learned previously is now wasted material, as there is no connection any-more between theory and practice, and between management and leadership either it seems.
By having only focused on the traditional route of developing future leaders for far too long, we have missed the cardinal truth about leadership development and its requirements for this day and age.
We have failed, they come out of the box (university) – (maybe this is why people say “think outside the box” – because they realise that the box (university) is running pretty empty on current reality and truth – wink -) with their expiry dates passed already; now it’s time to shift that emphasis and explore radical and revolutionary new insight that could change the way we manage, and train managers forever.
By only shifting the business leadership style with a paradigm to that of “commanders”, we could change the entire paradigm, and the outcome, of what future leaders should look like, some believe that we have migrated away from command, because it became un-popular, not dysfunctional.
Now there is a clear move back again, but what will we find, or will we raise the phoenix, and give it a new design, one that fits. This would imply changing the emphasis of command and control. Starting with the training, today it is a job for people who have been there – teaching leadership is no longer an academic license, people in the know, that have mastered both leadership and management, as well as command and control need to take the lead here, and not the university prof, or slick consultant, no these types with their “white coats and thick glasses” need to stand aside now, and make way for the man in “overalls” to teach leadership styles.
They can still teach us the likes of business dynamics and acumen – business wisdom. However, I believe that leaders need to be forged and shaped in the heat of battle, and then only “tempered” with business wisdom, and polished with the skills I will discuss here.
The question of leadership models and a future focused leadership career path is on everyone’s lips, as we have a leadership in decline crisis now the world over, and it’s not improving. Still there is just talk and no active turnaround strategy yet?
Some believe we are suffering this effect directly as a result of us having moved away from hard – command and control models, to soft and fluffy, “ cheer-leading” models of management.
We see it daily – all our leaders are just not high calibre people. And no, we cannot measure them against anything we have had so far either, if we keep doing things in the same fashion, we will keep getting the same results. In this instance; out dated leaders, with wrecked leadership skills and models will keep appearing if we don’t change the way we see, and bring about leaders, it needs to be a holistic approach, from the cradle to the grave. Otherwise we will keep having a leadership crisis. Allow me to explain…
Intro;
Asymmetrical social factors (refers to disproportionate) factors that influence strategy at all levels; they are all practices that we have, and practice in order to belong to a certain social norm or code of conduct, that influence our views and decision making. We become social around the planning table, and then so too do our customs and cultural rules apply…
These norms of social conduct also differ from one place to the next; home, work, church, sport, the club, and then it also extends into culture etc.
We all prescribe to a certain set of rules, codes, norms, practices, beliefs, principles and in the absence thereof to cultural norms, beliefs and practice. Combined these aspects form the “asymmetrical social factors”.
We don’t function outside of any realm of social influence, like a maverick, free from prejudice, influence, or bias, no, on the contrary we feed from one or even many social inputs; media, friends, education, culture, piers, parents, dogma, belief, all social sources, and this aspect informs perceptions we have on how to do things.
“With strategy everything connects with everything else”, subsequently, we need to understand more about what else is out there that directly influences our strategy.
Starting with ourselves
We are our own worst enemy
How many times have you heard that? Indeed it true, we are our own worst enemy, especially when it comes to neglecting to think about or do certain things that we don’t want or like, somehow we almost instinctively steer away from that which we don’t like or want. However, it’s not always ideal, especially where its things we have to deal with, then simply avoiding them does not mean they don’t exist any more, or will go away, we have all I am sure practiced this behaviour, when we start using avoidance, or denial, then we are in fact just poisoning our mental well-being (or capacity).
Everyone learning, teaching and or practicing strategy has a working concept of what strategy should look like in their minds. This is not always clear to others, as strategy is “multiple-discipline”.
With the result that there are as many forms of strategy, as what there are languages spoken.
However, it’s always important to continue to develop, and expand on this core knowledge, for knowledge is power. We have to continue asking the basic frame work questions, to test them, to see if they are all still valid. Back to basics, for if the structure is strong so will be the framework that we build upon.
Risks are not just about identifying events that, when triggered, could cause problems, even all the defects, and operational issues like none performance, shortage or scarcity of some resource, all the obvious things we were taught that create risk, yes still valid, but now there is more to consider when talking risk. The SWOT analysis is just not good enough; we require some sociological scanning…
The environmental scan is the second tool to use with RISK analysis; for today deeper and unseen aspects prevail, that also impact our risk factors and profile; it could start with any underlying philosophy being promoted, even our way of thinking could be contaminated, anything that rides the strategic train of thought with us, and then takes over at some point from rational and tips us towards the emotional, or abstract side of reasoning. Aha, so risk is not just measurable, tangible, foreseeable, and obvious, it’s also hidden in our metal make-up…and very much so.
Hence, risk identification should also include the people involved in our teams, profile them; for their bias, fears and then most important their ideology. Yes, the very way we are trying to solve a problem, is directly linked to how we are positioned, toward our environment, how we understand it, operate in it, and control it, is strongly influence by our ideology, things we believe in. This aspect could become the actual risk, sometimes only later on, and even a threat to the entire scheme, greater that the initial problems we foresee now… itself.
By definition; Grand Strategy; refers to a complexity of power, residing in strategic elements, both prevalent and indispensable for achieving very large-scale objectives such as winning a War or changing the political course of a nation.
In truth, No business ever reaches such a scale of work flow on the strategic level implied here. The launch of a new product for instance, could not possibly qualify for this analysis as “grand strategy” however important they are to those directly involved with it, it is still nowhere near the scale and scope of a true grand strategy – like WAR for instance.
Now in business; for an enterprise, the “Grand Strategy” - to be termed one – should include a cradle to grave approach, with for instance; prior calculations, assumptions, and research (by experts) on the business assumptions made in relation to what will actually be required to achieve various and diverse objectives simultaneously, through the application of concurrent running strategies – with simultaneous employment of divergent strategies and tactics for instance. Even then, it’s still not that clear-cut, or qualifies as a Grand Strategy.
The rules are different; for business there are no such things as peace and war, no transition from politics to War to achieve their aims with. It’s all substituted; there is intensive competition and “civilised rivalry” – a battle fought on supply and demand estimates – every day, but there is no conflict in which someone dies, no, contrary the outcome is severely constrained by laws, treaties, and regulation – quite civilised.
Have you ever wondered why some people are better than others at solving certain (complex) problems and making good decisions? Thereby leading the pack?
The answer seems obvious: they know more than us, or they have the experience required, they have the better education, the gift of the gab, and my favourite – they are the appointed authority etc.
We seem to find a reason for every situation in life with smart people to stand back, we become inventive with excuses as to why they outperform us, and why we have to be submissive or why we have to adhere to them. It’s called conformity. Society has taught us to conform to the rules; of culture, religion, social beliefs, and structure. All good and well, don’t get me wrong, but they never taught us that our thoughts, our thinking and reason do not belong to the same rules.
Our minds are free agents, or should be. So how smart are you anyway? Some people are smarter than others for sure! But being smart isn’t enough, when we want to find truth, and seek clarity, rationality. The truth is this; we are all “smart” at one thing, but not all things.
People have been conditioned to think with one paradigm only, all their lives, they just stay true to one way of thinking, and they never stop to think about their own thoughts, or way of thinking, when they do this thing called thinking so well.
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