Strategic Management Work2

Today I am going to comment on Stephen Covey's Habit 2 from his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I want to set the stage for this by providing an exerpt from a great little book titled The Wisdom of Wolvesby Twyman L. Towery, who has spent years studying this remarkable animal. This exerpt is titled STRATEGY and is quite fitting for discussing Habit 2 which is Begin With the End In Mind. Here it is: Hunters, photographers, researchers, and others who have been fortunate enough to witness an actual wolf pack hunt, often report being speechless When fate has had its way. Only moments before, as the observers peered through their binoculars, the wolves may have seemed to be aimlessly trailing The herd, as they had for days before. Suddenly, the seemingly bored wolves spring into action as a coordinated, focused team, each wolf understanding the STRATEGIC PLAN and the part they are to play. There are endless variations of the strategies wolves use to accomplish their goal, but one account stands out in my mind. A team of four wolves suddenly began a coordinated charge of a herd of musk ox, driving them over a moderate rise. As the musk ox topped the rise they were confronted by two wolves, directly in their path, looking unmovable and emotionless. The musk ox panicked (as the wolves knew they would) scattering in all directions, thereby losing the protection the group afforded. As the musk ox ran wildly in confusion, all six wolves converged on one elderly, somewhat feeble musk ox, no longer protected by his herd. One wolf attached to the lower jaw, another to the forehead, pulling the prey to the ground as the other wolves literally took his legs out from under him. The struggle was quickly over. The musk ox had complacently relied on the group for protection and had no plan to contend with a skillfully executed attack. The wolf pack was small in comparison, but had a strategy, executed it properly, and accomplished its objective. 1. The wolf pack began with the end in mind, its objective, to obtain food for the pack, and it had a definite strategy it carried out successfully. 2. And so it is with organizations, and with us as well. Organizations and individuals must begin with the end in mind. Managers must say about their organizations "where do we want to be in 3 years, 5 years (sales, market share, geographic expansion, product/service mix, and the list can go on). This is the goal or goals or objective or objectives. AND HOW DO WE GO ABOUT GETTING THERE (what strategies do we need to implement to accomplish our goals/objectives)? 3. This is beginning with the end in mind. You may be familiar with the children's book, Alice in Wonderland and the often quoted part wher Alice asked the hare which road she should take. The hare asked where do you want to go, at which Alice responded " I don't know". Then the hare replied "if you don't know where you're going, then any road will take you there" 4. Businesses should not undertake any actions without first deciding what they want to do. 5. we, as individuals, should not do anything without thinking through what outcome we want. A. DID YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH BY GETTING A COLLEGE DEGREE--YOU SHOULD HAVE. B. WOULD YOU TYPICALLY START OUT ON A TRIP WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT YOUR DESTINATION IS--NOT LIKELY. 6. And in the process of BEGINNING WITH THE END IN MIND ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS SHOULD HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT WHICH IS THE BEST WAY TO BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Do you have a personal mission statement? If not you should take time to develop one and determine what you want to be doing in 5 years. Begin with the end in mind.