The Gift of Knowledge and Mourning

Blessed are they who mourn... Matthew 5:4

The Gift of Knowledge corresponds to the beatitude of those who mourn. The reason we mourn is that something inside us realizes that our programs for happiness, put together in early childhood, are not going to work anymore. This is one of the intuitive fruits of the Gift of Knowledge. It is the realization of the damage that our emotional programs have done to us throughout our lives up until now. Part of the mourning caused by the Gift of Knowledge is the beautiful grace called "tears of contrition."

Such contrition is also known as compunction. Compunction is the humble acknowledgement of our failures without any guilt feelings attached to them. If there are guild feelings attached to them, then they are coming from our own neuroses. When there is a feeling of loving sorrow for having damaged ourselves and others, these tears are cleansing. Hence the promise contained in the beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Knowing who is Responsible

So whose job is it to watch out for hazards and opportunities and assess the potential effects of new competition and changes in the wider economy? Usually, strategy is seen as the preserve of a business's leaders, and while it's true that good strategists often achieve senior management positions, monitoring organizational strategy can, and should, involve people throughout the organization. Your salespeople, for example, may be best placed to gain information about the market (the best source of competitor knowledge is often your own customers). Similarly, your purchasing staff may have advance warning of price increases in key raw materials. Find ways to collect such knowledge and use it to inform your strategy.

Ask the following questions to help focus on the future:

• Do i know what our customers (internal or external) are doing and what their future plans are?
• Do I know what our competitors are doing?
• Have I assessed whether there are any constraints that could affect our business in the next few years?
• Have I analyzed whether there are opportunities for my team?
• Do I know who is responsible for gathering information?

ACTION POINT: Encourage and incentivize everyone in your team to be aware of what is going on in your organizational environment and find ways to collate any information they discover.

Linking Strategy to the Market

A good manager always finds time to reflect upon where the business is going

Strategy has two dimensions: what is happening inside your organization and what is happening outside, in the market. You must understand and analyze both if you are to devise a successful strategy.

Most people in an organization are constantly busy working to the next deadline. However, being driven by short-term goals should not preclude thinking about the future. A good manager always finds time to reflect upon where the business is going and whether its strategy remains valid.

Business is time precious. If you don't dispatch the order by Thursday, you'll lose the contract; if you don't complete your invoicing by the end of the quarter, you'll answer to your boss. A series of deadlines can stretch out far into the future, and it's all to easy to get mired in day-to-day delivery.

But looking beyond the "now" will help you avoid future troubles that may affect your business and will enable you to spot opportunities to achieve more sales, develop new services, and pre-empt your competitors' activities to gain first-mover advantage. The attentive organization or team will soon gain advantage over the competition. For example, say you are a car manufacturer and you know that it takes five years to develop a new car design. if you receive early signals that taxation on large-engined cars will increase in five years, you can begin to develop smaller engines for your cars well before your competitors. your product will emerge earlier than theirs and gain a strong foothold in a new market.

ACTION POINT: Understand and analyze what is happening inside and outside of your organization.

Shaping your Strategy

the concept of sustainable competitive advantage is usually at the heart of company strategy.

Strategic management is necessary to achieve success in all types of organizations. However, the way strategy is understood and applied differs depending on the sector in which your organization operates, whether it is private, public, or voluntary.

The private sector is defined by competition. Companies continue to exist only if they provide products or services that are better than those of their competitors, so the concept of sustainable competitive advantage is usually at the heart of company strategy. Another key dimension or private sector strategy is time Lead times (the time it takes for a process to be completed, from the start of that process to its completion.) for developing new products and getting them to market are often short, and tension can exist between delivering short-term profits and planning and resourcing long-term strategy.

The public sector delivers public policy and undertakes functions such as collecting taxes. It is largely immune to the forces of competition, although competition does exist internally, such as between departments seeking funding form a limited government pot. If public sector organizations spend less than they receive, the difference is known as "surplus", not "profit". Strategy in the public sector is usually centered on delivering goals to satisfy the political process and producing conspicuous efficiency and value for money to reassure taxpayers. Political pressures commonly lead to changes in priorities to gain voter support, and to a short-term view that impacts upon longer-term strategic planning.

Voluntary organizations can be considered to fall between the public and private sectors. While their objectives may be social or political, they are subject to the same competitive forces as the private sector. The must compete for funding from public or private organizations, and from individuals. Unlike the private sector, however, it is not always clear who the customers of a voluntary organization are--is it the recipients of funding, the donors, the trustees, or the volunteers who help make it run? Consequently, strategic management of voluntary sector organizations is heavily based upon satisfying all of these different groups, through careful stakeholder (anyone who has an interest in your organization and how it is run) management. Voluntary sector organizations must be careful not to spend more than they receive in donations. Like public sector organizations, if a voluntary organization spends less than it receives, the difference is is know as "surplus" rather than "profit", for social, political, and presentational reasons.

ACTION POINT: Provide products and services that are better than those of your competitors.

Sources of Control

It places you ahead of your competitors--internal or external.

There are a number of sources of control you need to achieve to give you greater power within the environment in which you operate. Developing one or more of these will give you a greater ability to direct your particular market.

• Control of Knowledge. Access to information and knowledge provides you with understanding and an enhanced ability to prepare. It places you ahead of your competitors--internal or external.
• Expert Power. At times we all need someone who can find solutions to our problems. Expertise is a source of power, especially when it is in short supply.
• Control of Resources. If you control who can use resource, such as staff, money, and offices, then you have power over other managers.
• Control of Distribution. If you are a good retailer and make your outlets popular with customers, suppliers want to talk to you. By controlling access to customers, you can control the manufacturers.
• Personal Power. This derives from your personal influence--your ability to make people voluntarily do what you want. Influential people spend their time talking with others.

ACTION POINT: Understand and strengthen your sources of control.

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