ALONG WITH LOTTERY TICKETS AS A WAY TO GET AHEAD IN LIFE . . .

"Hope is not a strategy."

Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor.

Hope is a good thing; hope all you want for whatever in life is important to you.

You can even hope that hope will be all you need to succeed.

But when done hoping, get to work to make happen what you need and want to happen.

HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY

"He that lives upon hope will die fasting."

Benjamin Franklin, 18th century American inventor, one of the founding fathers of the United States

 Hope you win the lottery, plan your life as though you won't.

IF YOU LOOK REALLY HARD . . .

"Nimble thought can jump both sea and land."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) British poet and playwright.

Whether he intended it to be or not, Shakespeare's take on visualization; a most important element in business and our personal lives.

To accomplish great things you must first envision them and the greater they are the more difficult that is to do.

You must see what others cannot.

BIG PICTURE IDEAS, SMALL PICTURE EXECUTION

"We think in generalities, but we live in detail."

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician.

And fortunately there are those among us who do one if not the other very well.

The trick is to build balanced teams of both.

2ND IS SOMETIMES BEST

"But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

Herman Melville (1819-1891) American writer.

Depends on how you define "originality" and particularly "imitation".

In business, being a close follower, eliminating mistakes of those whose first-to-market product was good but not great, is a tried and true strategy for success. 

A PLAN TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS

"Laws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time."

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American politician

So very true, and as much so in your business strategy and plan.

If you don't review and revise it every quarter you soon will have no business to plan for.

DO ALL ENDS JUSTIFY ALL MEANS?

"We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them."

François de La Rochefoucauld 

17th century French writer

Which raises the question, does the motive matter if the deed is "good"?

And does your answer change if only you knows the true motivation for your actions?

WHO WILL CHANGE YOU?

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it."

Karl Marx

19th century German philosopher/political economist

Marx's philosophy may have been taken off track by others, or never been on track in the first place. 

But he was right to advocate attempting to guide rather than be subjected to inevitable change.

Who will guide your change?

One Size Does Not Fit All

"You cannot put the same shoe on every foot."

Publilius Syrus

1st century BC Roman writer

Whatever business strategy you've used successfully in the past will soon, if not already, no longer work.

Let's Ask Bill

"Consult.  To seek another's approval of a course already decided on."

Ambrose Bierce

19th century American newspaperman

As a strategy/planning/"change" consultant, I can attest to this.

How much opinion do you ask for where the real intent is just to support what you've already decided to to do?

All Things To All (No) People

"A friend to everybody and nobody is the same thing."

Spanish proverb

Does your company attempt to sell to everyone?

Attempting is fine but it won't happen and in the end could result in lower sales.

Give No Quarter!

"Surely the best way to meet the enemy is head on, in the field, and not wait until they plunder our homes."

Oliver Goldsmith

18th century Irish writer

You compete but have you ever really thought about what that means?

Do you react to your competitor or do they react to you?

Who's meeting who head on?

Strategic Advantage: The Reason I Should Buy From You Is . . .?

"He (Jerry Yang, ex Yahoo CEO) has never even given a convincing answer to the question of what Yahoo!’s strategy should be in an ideal world. To be a “starting point” for half a billion web surfers, Mr Yang likes to say. But how is that different from the old “portal” idea which stopped working long ago, or the search box that Google in effect controls?"

The Economist
November 15, 2008

At its core, a company's strategy statement is a declaration of why the company exists; the reason customers should consider buying what it sells. It is the foundation upon which all business plans are built.

If a potential customer walked into your office and asked you why they should consider buying from you, what would you say? If you have a clearly defined strategic statement that unequivocally separates you from the competition, you know.

And if you don't . . .