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I once heard a statement that no matter how good you think you
are, there is always someone else who is better. This appears to
be a pessimistic view even to a point of degrading one’s
self-worth. However, this saying provides a starting point to
understanding one’s gifts or setbacks, one’s strengths or
weaknesses in comparison to potential counterparts.
Do you remember in your school band when you were the third
chair among all the clarinet players? Do you recall your high
school student council campaign? Who was voted in as the
president and who were the runner-ups that year? Who was the
starting quarterback who was the 2nd string quarterback for the
college football team? Who won the role of Juliet and who was
her understudy for the community play?
While being first or second was prevalent in school, it is
inevitable in a work force setting and even in everyday
occurrences. You might have been a candidate for a lucrative job
offer, but was disappointed because the job went to someone
else. You might have rushed to a music store to buy an artist’s
greatest hits collection only to find out that someone else
bought the last CD five minutes before you came in.
Being first or second may be inescapable, but you can take your
placement in life’s occurrences as a positive factor to help
move you towards the top. Think about these motivating
characteristics that can help move leaders ahead of the
curve. Innovation: Many people associate
the term innovative with the act of invention, but we think of
innovation as looking at opportunities in a new way or “thinking
out of the box.” The fast food industry provides us with an
example of one such man. No one will argue that McDonalds’ Ray
Croc was “Ahead of the Curve” in this industry. McDonalds was
not the first hamburger chain in America; other chains can claim
that fame. Finding a way to turn burgers and fires into a mass
market enterprise set McDonalds “Ahead” and apart from the other
chains in the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, Ray Kroc’s innovative
foresight was to standardize menus and restaurants and to make
the meals affordable that led to the popularity of McDonalds’s
today. Looking around corners: One of the
most celebrated basketball players of all-time was cut from the
varsity basketball team when he was just a sophomore. In his
book, Can’t Accept Not Trying, Michael Jordan, recounts instead
of giving up basketball he set achievable goals, working on one
after another until he dominated the game. He strategically
focused on and worked towards sites “Ahead of the Curve” to
become one of the best basketball players of all time.
Plan ahead: When Thomas Edison set about
reinventing the incandescent electric light bulb, he proposed to
connect his lights in a parallel circuit so that the failure of
one light bulb would not cause the whole circuit to fail.
Eminent scientists predict that such a circuit would never be
feasible. And while at times it seemed that the bulb might never
materialize, Edison continued his work on his reverse action
generator and the development of electrical wires, still in use
today. His planning, work and tenacity placed the first
permanent, working commercial central power system in lower
Manhattan in September 1882. His sight was always “Ahead of the
Curve” and on the central power system that would light the
world.
These are just three of the strategic processes described in Dr.
Steven J. Stowell and Stephanie Mead’s new book Ahead of the
Curve, A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking and their
workshop, Applied Strategic Thinking. The
workshop is a practical look at what it means to be strategic
and demonstrates a hands-on process in developing workable
strategic plans that will take companies into the future. For
more information regarding the workshop, please call (801)
569-3444.
About Author :
If you would like to purchase a copy of "Ahead of the
Curve", you can place an order by visiting their online bookstore or
by calling 888-262-2499.
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