Developing Your Own Winning Strategy

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.– Luke 19:1- 4 (NKJV)

Right from the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, the issue of limitation in ability came into place. And every now and then, man keeps embarking on means of managing and overcoming his seemingly unending challenges.

I remembered a course we were taught in my final year in the university. The introduction of the course involved the study of the need of shelter for mankind. It included the need to protect himself from atmospheric conditions such as heat, rain, cold, hostile neighbors, enemies, ferocious animals as well as the quest for privacy.

A clear picture of what the first house ever built looked like may not be readily available, but you will agree with me that considering when you were born and now, building and construction technology keeps evolving day after day. As former structures are unable to meet the demands of its owners or occupants, the structures are pulled down and new ones are built.

Through a constant or rather continuous re-invention of the wheel, technologies with limitations keep giving way to newer ones. The challenges that a technology may be facing today may be virtually nowhere to be found when the technology was made. Since man’s wants and life’s challenges are unending, there must be a continuously evolving well developed means to meet up. Software engineers understand better, that is why you can have up to four SP (Service Packs) for a single operating system before the release of a new operating system.

In the Bible passage we are considering, the man Zacchaeus has to do with a limitation; his physical shortness. Take note of the word “physical shortness” because I’m more than convinced that he is not short on the inside. On the fateful day, Chief Zacchaeus had the interest to see who Jesus was. I’m terribly convinced that his goal getting spirit was at work that day. But the challenges before him were in two phases; one, he is short, two; there was a large crowd.

Recently, I came across a Bible story illustration book for children; Out On A Limb by Marilyn Lashbrook. It has the following to say about Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus always got

What he wanted

No matter what.

One day, he wanted to see Jesus

But Zacchaeus was very little

And there were many very big people

Standing in his way

So Zacchaeus tried to see over the people

And he tried to squeeze between them.

But the people would not move.

Zacchaeus had an idea.

He ran ahead of the crowd and scrambled up a tree.

He peeked through the leaves and when he looked down…

There was Jesus looking right up into his face.

Zacchaeus proved to us that our limitation in whatever form is not an excuse for not achieving our goals. Coming up with an idea and developing an intrinsic strategy is the only way out. One other important thing is that the strategy must be a strong one. Zacchaeus did not climb a Pawpaw tree. That would have been disastrous.

The world keeps evolving; it’s only those who know what they really want and can develop strategies to achieve their intents that will eventually become successful. These are men and women with great insight and courage sufficient to seize the day. They are continuously in pursuit of knowledge being that they are aware that the knowledge, skills and attitude that were appropriate for success in Year One will no longer be entirely appropriate in Year Two.

Strategy is a plan that you use to achieve something. Asymmetric means unconventional method of doing something. What then does asymmetric strategy means?

Dr. Mark Clodfelter is a brilliant military historian and author of The Limits of Air Power: the American Bombing of North Vietnam. One of the lessons learned in his book relate to how wealthy nation can go to war with some of the most elaborate plans only to lose the battle. On the other hand, the smaller adversary may use unconventional means and social networks coupled with ingenuity and low tech devices to win outrightly or simply prevent the enemy from gaining upper hand. The result is that the smaller, low-tech nation by developing an asymmetric strategy gained advantage over its larger and more powerful competitor.

Think of it as “The David vs. Goliath effect”. David did not attempt to fight the great giant in a conventional “direct attack” manner with armor and a sword. Instead, he sought the element of surprise and attacked Goliath’s center of gravity. A single, smooth stone flung from David’s slingshot at lightning speed and with pinpoint accuracy aided by the power of the Almighty struck Goliath in the head, killing him instantly.(1 Samuel 17:50).

Frank Shines, author of The New Science of Success writes:

I do not believe that the individual or the entrepreneur can compete against foreign competitors or the “big guys” using traditional weapons. Instead each will need to find an asymmetric advantage to gain an edge. Much like David’s slingshot used to slay Goliath, the “little guy” needs new, unconventional knowledge and a different set of skills and habits.

My focus is that given all the uncontrollable forces of limitation, what can you or the organization(s) you are associated do to improve chances of success in the coming years? Developing an asymmetric winning strategy is the way out!

We are going to look at it on two levels: Personal and Organizational level. We’ll consider the personal level asymmetric strategy based on Frank Shines book. For the organizational level, “Strategic Management” co-authored by Gomez, Mejia and Balkin (The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2002) will do.