Business Sophistication (1)
This is the age of human sophistication as evident in every facet of our lives, even in our business lives. The way of doing business in the 80s, 90s and at the dawn of this century are different from what we experience today. Sometimes I wonder if the likes of Lee Iacocca and Jack Welch could successful contain the challenges that today’s business climate brings as they did in their days. Indeed, a lot has changed in the business world.
It might interest you to know that doing business today is war, and the more sophisticated your weapon the surer your victory in the midst of the hyper-competition. There are five main areas that you’d need sophistication to match the challenges that today’s business culture demands, if we must thrive. I represent them as five Ms for business superiority, namely: your mind, machine, minute, money and men.
Your mind
The first place to sophisticate is in your mind. Business is principally a mind game. And the battle won in the mind is as good as won in reality. In life, it’s first mental warfare before any other. You can’t achieve much more on the outside than what you have achieved and become on the inside. Those who can’t outwit their opponent mentally would hardly do so physically or by any other means.
What do you do then? Enlighten your mind continuously with up-to-date information on current happenings in your field. In other words, develop the ability to constantly acquire new and better forms of knowledge that you can use to your advantage at the war front. Benjamin Disraeli once quipped, ‘Nurture your mind with great thoughts for you will never go any higher than you think’.
How strong is your business mind to meeting the ever increasing business challenges that we see every day? Always remember that the competition is not relenting. For people to mind your business, you must learn how to use your mind in your business. If possible, engage the services of experts, when and wherever necessary. No one can do it alone in these days where specialisation is celebrated. You must prove to yourself that you are in business and not rehearsing for something else. And depending on the nature of your business you could also join or form an alliance with great minds that you can leverage on their knowledge and technical skills; the synergy would produce a miracle.
About the Author
Tony Ajah is a business growth strategist, and the Principal Strategist, TA strategic Solutions, a Lagos-based firm that is into business growth and development.Contact email: [email protected]
