Be Different or be dead

November 21, 2016

30 valuable business lessons I learned in the heat of battle

Source: Unsplash

30 valuable business lessons I learned in the heat of battle.

My math studies taught me the theory of differential equations, linear algebra and micro economics, but for the most part the educational content sat on my cognitive shelf ageing as my career progressed.

In retrospect, my years of academic toiling netted out to learning how to solve problems created when intentions and results don’t match.
But I needed more. My education should have prepared me to better provide the value my organization required to succeed in a complicated and intensely competitive environment.

I had to learn many practical things in the heat of the moment.

School is proficient at teaching us to conform to accepted academic dogma.

If you master book wisdom, you are rewarded with a first class mark and the expectation you will land a plum job and a rewarding career.

Well, it doesn’t guarantee anything.

Business success is not necessarily about how well you master the content of your chosen degree

It’s not about how effectively you memorize course material.

It’s not about mastering case studies and learning how organizations were successful in the past. Case studies have their limits in terms of usefulness.

I was never exposed to these 30 principles in school, yet they have stood the test of time as being critical to organization success and survival.

- There is no right answer in business, just degrees of wrongness;
- What works for one organization or person doesn’t necessarily work for another;
- The perfect business plan is a myth;
- Fast imperfection is a competitive advantage;
- Plan ‘A’ never works; Plan ‘B’ might;
- Leadership is more about listening than directing;
- Success = (doing) (lots of) (imperfect) (stuff) (fast);
- Goosebumps are the best indicator of who you should hire;
- Be good at anticipating but great at responding;
- Effective selling is the result of serving;

                            ▪️▪️▪️▪️

- Execution, not the plan, determines who wins and who looses;
- Mass markets don’t exist;
- Let’s head west is a valid strategy;
- Competitive advantage comes from being the ONLY ones that you do;
- If you have to talk about price, you have no value to offer;
- Benchmarking best in class adds no strategic value;
- Corollary: The fast follower achieves no value faster;
- The more mistakes you make, the more successes you have;
- People can’t do more than 3 things well at the same time;

                            ▪️▪️▪️▪️

- Internal policies belong in the warehouse, never exposed to customers;
- People can’t be trained to provide caring service. You can train them to smile but that’s all;
- Corollary: don’t trust anyone who grins you;
- ‘All things remaining equal’ is Keynesian crap;
- Linear regression is a trend line to nowhere;
- Standout leaders encourage imperfection;
- Without the HOW, the WHAT is a dream;
- Great communication has a fog factor of ‘0’; KISS!
- Loosen up on planning; tighten up on execution;
- BE DiFFERENT or be dead.

It’s about time our graduates arrived on the steps of business with practical skills; treat this as your ‘learn on the run’ list of practices to guide you.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.21.16 at 05:41 am by Roy Osing
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