The world is not static, with any entity desiring success in any industry requiring a strategic thinking mindset through and through. Strategy is about knowing whom you are, your strengths and setting priorities heading into the future, with the discipline to let go of many opportunities that present themselves. Even though the competition might be busy engaging in their own affairs, it is prudent to build everything from the inside out. Concentrating overly on what the next entity is doing can destroy the very uniqueness possessed. The order of execution of the weaver birds is inspiration enough for any serious individual and organisation.
The weaver bird does not just build it’s nest anywhere. First it identifies a place with desirable defensive characteristics. Weaver birds build their nests on the tallest tree away from the creeping and crawling creatures that could devour her eggs and nestlings. It builds it’s nest close to an hornet’s nest, where nobody can reach the nest without irritating the wasps and risking a sting. That’s defence. The weaver bird builds it’s nest at the drip tip ends of tree branches, capable of carrying itself only and it’s kids. Birds of prey like the eagles cannot pilfer from it’s nest because they have nowhere to stand. They are too heavy for the small twigs on which the nest is built. Such is strategy at its best, being able to do an environmental scanning and using the opportunities in that environment to your advantage.
The weaver bird’s nest usually dangles precariously into a deep water reservoir such as a river. You won’t touch it’s eggs without falling into the river. Finally the weaver bird does not build one nest at a place. It builds several, one is genuine and the rest are decoys to confuse the enemy. Small snakes may reach the nests but will get into one, find nothing, go into another, find nothing and get confused about which nest was checked or not. The confused intruder leaves empty handed. Real strategy is a mind game meant at confusing the competition and emerging victorious at the end. Great strategic thinkers always have their thinking hats on, knowing fully well that the changing environment require different modes of execution.
ln leadership, as in Strategy, a winning mindset and development of concepts that seeks to conquer all the odds is the critical ingredient for trailblazing success. Great leaders of impact are continuously making decisions on the run, keeping tempo with the speed of change. They come up with a well thought out strategy which is flexible and responsive to changes in the environment, bearing in mind that any organisation that doesn’t adapt will surely die. The strategy should be adaptable as new information becomes available or circumstances change, warranting the need for quickly alignment, failure of which is a recipe for disaster. Methods and Models will work in some cases but not in others; what worked yesterday might breed disastrous results today. Successful strategy combines different elements to create an effective overall game plan that ushers the entity to a higher pedestal in the quest for organisational success and significance.
Change is here to stay and it’s only prudent to be driven by the quest to outmanoeuvre the best of your yesterday. What got the organisation here will not necessarily take it there hence the need to keep eyes open, ears on the ground and feet ready to be on the run to the next destination.