The Ultimate Business Strategy

Every business activity is a game and fundamentally a game of strategy. A lot in business today depends on strategy. Like you already know, a strategy converts your intentions into the desired accomplishment. Joel Ross and Michael Kami, two management experts remarked in one of their book that,’ without a strategy, the organization is like a ship without a rudder, going around in circles. It’s like a tramp; it has no place to go’. That could be why John Collins also taught that, ‘Competing in the marketplace is like war. You have injuries and casualties, and the best strategy wins’. You sure have got a business strategy. Don’t you?

In truth, strategies are not something that you hope for, but something that you work for. And this has to be based on response(s) on the present realities in the market place. Getting to where you are going requires knowing where you are, and how much is required to move you on, and in what direction. A map is not functional until you know where you are on it. The same is true in your business strategy.

You can’t win a game you haven’t defined based on the prevailing business truth. Each business situation is a classroom opportunity to learn about what works and what does not work. You had your strategy quite alright, but how helpful has it been to you? Let me relate this to something we can easily grasp.

Every game has its own rules and its own definition of victory. No matter what the game is, there is always a scoreboard. In sports, everybody understands the importance of the scoreboard – players and spectators alike. Anytime I came in the middle of a match (when my favorite team plays), I first look at the score line, before settling down to enjoy the rest of the game. I know that you do the same, consciously or unconsciously. That would at least give you a clue on why they play the way the play, and so becomes baffling when a losing party cares less about the scores; playing as if nothing has happened or was at stake.

Think about how a basketball team approaches a game. Before the competition starts, the team spends much time planning. Players sometimes study hours of game films and spend days figuring out what their opponent is likely to do, and they decide the best way to win. And come up with detailed game plan. As the game begins, the game plan is very important, and the scoreboard means nothing (of course, everything was going to begin from zero). But as the game goes on, the game plan means less and less, and the scoreboard becomes more and more significant. This is simply because; the game is constantly changing (and in most cases the scores also). By now you must have know your opponent better, their strengths and weaknesses, and what to take advantage of. A man once taught, ‘If you know the enemy (your opponent) and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles’. That would be a plus to those who have got the eyes.

The scoreboard is essential to understanding, evaluating, adjusting, re-strategizing, and hence winning. Even if you are half way into the game, you can look at the scoreboard and assess the situation well. ‘The scoreboard’, John Maxwell once said, ‘provides a snapshot of the game at any given time’. I quite agree with him. It’s from there that you learn better what to do, or possibly what not to do. You may work so hard, but without a feedback that comes from the scoreboard, you wouldn’t know how well you are doing and how to improve. Changes are made considering what the rival is doing (or likely to do). So, you can counter whatever scheme he has got. Have you got a business scoreboard? What does it read now?

The game plan (initial strategy) tells what you want to happen. But the scoreboard tells what is happening; where you are doing it right or wrong. Victory here hinges on your ability to convert what’s on ground to your benefit. Here, you have to employ the scoreboard strategy, which by all means is the ultimate business strategy. Peter Drucker was right when he taught that, ‘Planning is an intellectual exercise. Until it becomes actual work, you have done nothing’. Most of what many organizations called strategy’ is nothing but mere plans. And I am saying this out of experience. (I hope you are not one of them). While there is need for plans, it’s very dangerous to totally rely on them to face your everyday business challenges without making most important modifications.

Obviously, strategies have to accept new fundamentals and new horizon. An organization’s strategy is partly planned and partly responsive to changing circumstances. Effective strategy looks at what is happening now in the light of what you want to achieve. No team can ignore the reality of its situation and still win; making key adjustments is the secret of winning in every game, even in business.

According to Frank Tarkenton, American management consultant, ‘Business is a game where the clock never stops and the score can change everyday’. It’s laughable how some businesses in Nigeria want to make it without a scoreboard, which they care less about. How would you know if your business is on line without the scoreboard? You may be working hard, but without a true market-response, you wouldn’t know how well you are doing. The scoreboard gives you that insight. Let’s come up with a law. I decide to tag it the law of scoreboard and it states that, businesses can make deliberate adjustments and move on when it knows where it stands. Period. You use the information from the scoreboard to know when to concentrate on what you are doing right, what to get rid of the irrelevant things.

It behooves on you to develop a strategic framework to analyze information to understand your position, pin point your competitive advantage, define the scope and depth of your impact in the market, decide where you want to focus your resources, identify priorities and possibly implement changes. Toughness in business means mental concentration and willingness to pay true attention to performance and to correct it through measurement and reinforcement. That I think is simple business intelligence.

Someone likened tactics (or strategy) like water; water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows. That’s tactical, or what do you think? Tzu Sun also quipped, ‘He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponents, and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain’. The same added, ‘Whether to concentrate or divide your troops must be decided by circumstances’. What else can I say?

Always remember that the scoreboard strategy is dynamic. Nothing kills a business faster like rigidity in your methods and approaches. That which worked today might not certainly guarantee success tomorrow. Be creative about it – know what and where to adjust and consolidate, and what to pay less attention to.

On a final note, it doesn’t just take strategy to win; it takes the scoreboard strategy. Making key adjustments is the secret of winning in life and in business. You can’t win without a strategy, but you can lose with one, except the scoreboard strategy. The later often produces the winning magic you business needs to break-even. What are you waiting for to start using it? Join my team and me as we unleash strategic moves on how to unlock your next business gain. Send me a mail if you are interested. What are you waiting for? It's up to you to make your business happen! It’s a new day.


Tony Ajah is a Business Growth Strategist. He is the Principal Strategist, TA Strategic Solutions, a Lagos-based firm that is into business growth and development.
www.ta-strategies.com tony@ta-strategies.com ajahxt@yahoo.co.uk 0805 140 3056