The strategist may be concerned and may derive conceptual lessons and applications from national development strategies, military and war strategy, politics, sports, love and friendship, personal success and even from spiritual warfare and the Bible. I have for instance written on these pages “Strategy Lessons from football” which was an attempt to distil lessons business managers could learn from soccer. I have also written “The Ultimate Strategist”-that of course is the Almighty God, who alone ultimately grants success to any human venture-“except the Lord builds, they labour in vain who build the house”.
Today we focus on politics and specifically Barack Obama’s astounding victory in the November 4, 2008 US presidential elections. It was an improbable victory. It looked like a long shot. Obama sought a political objective that was unprecedented, perhaps revolutionary. Yet in the end, his victory was total and complete, even redefining the US political map and changing probably for ever the course of political and social development in America and the rest of the world. Surely there must be some lessons business managers and strategists can learn from Barack Obama. In this article, we attempt to identify some of those lessons.
Don’t accept Industry Orthodoxy: If Obama had accepted the accepted orthodoxy in the political “industry”, he would have believed that he needed to build up a decent Senate legislative record before he could countenance a run for the White House. He would also have been told that an African-American could not hope to win the US presidency, especially a first-generation one with a Kenyan father, and a Muslim background. Obama did not believe any of this believing that industry conditions are dynamic, not static, and that individual market participants are not helpless concerning them. In short, he sought and succeeded in shaping his industry, rather than accepting received wisdom.
There is no reason why you can’t aim for industry leadership: Related to the above point, Obama felt he was as entitled as any one else to become US president. That would have been presumptuous considering the giants like Hillary Clinton (a former first lady with the powerful Clinton machinery behind her) within his party, and a war hero and distinguished long serving Senator like John McCain who he faced in the general election. Any conventional “manager” may have been sensible to discount the possibility of victory in such a lop-sided contest. But not Obama, and his audacity of hope. The concept of strategic intent is similar. Successful companies set audacious, stretch goals, and put strategy, passion and commitment behind them, and many times, they succeed.
Look beyond current industry boundaries: Barack Obama may not have won either the democratic primary or the general election if he didn’t attract new voters into the equation. So he aggressively courted young, first time voters and encouraged many to vote for the very first time. Business strategists must similarly think beyond current consumers and markets. Where are the “blue oceans”? Who are the consumers of the future? How can your firm change the market boundaries to your advantage?
When there is a winning idea, resources and capital will always be available: Many firms and entrepreneurs blame the shortcomings of their businesses on the lack of finance. Obama suggests otherwise. There is no conceivable reason why anyone could have expected Obama to raise more money than Hillary or McCain. But markets recognise good ideas. If your idea is a winning one, capital will become available.
A nimble, creative and resourceful new entrant can outmanoeuvre the big, unwieldy, resource-rich dinosaur: At the end of the day, creativity and innovation will defeat a bigger player, who has no new ideas. John McCain brought nothing new into the general elections except the scare tactics that had been used successfully against John Kerry and Al Gore. The voters facing economic crisis had been inured against those but McCain’s strategists did not recognise the need for a new strategy. Same with Hillary-she assumed it was about experience, but the market wanted change, and it was too late before she realised.
Find the right strategy, and stick to it!: Barack Obama had only one message throughout the democratic primaries and the general election-change! While John McCain kept on trying every tactic in the book, Obama stuck to his single message-change we can believe in, change we need, change has come to Washington!
Take the battle to your opponent’s territory: Barack Obama in the last days of the campaign forced McCain to continue to defend states that were historically assumed to be safe republican territory, and in the end won several of them. He succeeded in forcing McCain on the defensive, even spending scare campaign resources in his home state of Arizona. Of course McCain could not dare near any democratic stronghold-Chicago, New York, Massachusetts etc, but was on the defensive in Ohio, Indiana, etc. Don’t be continuously defending your markets, let the competitor be busy defending his while you consolidate your own markets.
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