THE MANAGER'S DILEMMA

The hardest question for every human is why. Why did this happen, why are our sales low, why did we not hit our break-even points?

The concept of the golden circle, which emphasizes the WHY, provides an answer to this question. I am not the first person to write about this paradigm but my point of view on it is phenomenal.

I was reminded of a book called Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles that I had read while in Kenya. It discusses a Japanese philosophy (Ikigai) that I aim to live up to and represent in all that I am. Why do I wake up? This is the main question from this book.  

Today my curiosity for "why" was evoked to better articulate these ideas. I came up with the key caveats to address the manager's dilemma or yours

1. Vision, Strategy, and Tactics Framework

Vision: Once you get to understand the importance of having a clear and inspiring vision. This involves understanding why the organization/you want to exist. Once you can understand your reason for existence, it becomes easy to see the goal, which makes it easy to narrow down to the target hence a myopic vision for our goals. People will always do what they believe in and what the world makes them believe in and also buy what they believe in. The recipe for success is not the product or service superiority or the business model but the why.

Strategy: The strategic approach to achieving your vision includes the ability to make informed decisions about where to invest resources, which technologies to adopt, and how to position the organization in the evolving digital landscape. While still maintaining a 'why' focus in the process of strategizing. Therefore, I could sum up it with a simple thought, "A strategy without a why is just a wish."

Tactics: These are the specific actions and plans an individual needs to implement for a strategy. With a keen understanding of "why," it is easier to align the chess pieces of the game, to understand how to fit them into the grand scheme of life and the various departments of an organization and operating environments

2. Alignment of Why, How, and What

Why: This requires emphasizing the significance of understanding the purpose behind every organization and individual existence. Big corporations like Uber, Apple, Burberry, and Caesars understood the mission and executed their tactics strategically. A key understanding of your why involves clarifying the reasons and motivations that drive the need for change for businesses since you are a business-man!

The current technological wave is easy to ride, but it might be difficult to grasp why you are riding it. If this is not recognized early enough, it could result in drowning. And this is where 70% of the current business is just surfing without knowing why. The biggest technological recession is coming and if you do not figure out your WHY you will be out of the game. Consumed like a pawn that just made the wrong move.

My critical takeaway from this topic is to focus on a structured approach which will allow you as an organization, to incorporate a vision-driven strategy, and ensure alignment between overarching goals and practical implementation steps.

Therefore, this leads to a strategy crafted around the question "why" that focuses on "how" we will achieve our transformation and "what" digital methodologies or technologies need to be implemented.

"A strategy without a why is just a wish." J.Kiteme