Unlocking the Genius within: Barriers and Gateways to Quality Thinking
It may be useful to start with some fundamental questions. Why do some people or organizations become highly successful and achieve great successes while others remain backward and struggle through life? Could it be differences in resource endowments? Does it have anything to do with different choices that people and organizations make? Or could success be just pure luck?
The Limit of Resource Endowment
While it is true that availability and possession of critical resources provide the enabling environment for individuals and organization to thrive, it has been proven, time and again, that resource endowment alone does not guarantee success in life. History is replete with examples of failed individuals, organizations and even Kingdoms who had the best of resources in the world. Conversely, there are many examples of highly successful people, organizations and countries today that started with virtually nothing in terms of resources.
If resources were the key determinant of success in life, a country like Nigeria should have been the most developed in the world, given the amount of her resource endowments. The country is so rich that one of her ex Head of State once boastfully declared that the country’s problem was never a lack of money but how to spend her money. Similarly, if lack of resources were the recipe for failures in life, a country like Singapore (now highly developed high-income country), should only have been heard of in a visit to museum of failed countries of the world, as it had absolutely nothing when it started out as an independent entity in 1965. Indeed, knowing her acute lack of means to stand on her own, the country’s then leader – Lee Kuan Yew could not help but break down in tears when she was sent out of Malaya Union in 1965.
At individual level, we all have heard stories or probably know of families and people whose forbearers were very rich and well-to-do, but who now struggle through life and has almost fallen into oblivion. Similarly, we also know one or two individuals who braved all odds and pushed through ‘a world of lack’ to become successful and someone to be reckoned with today.
Success is Less about Resource Endowment...
Clearly, achieving a sustainable successes and greatness in life has little to do with resource endowments but a lot to do with choices that people make or refuse to make. A huge resource endowment will amount to nothing without a disciplined thoughts on the best way to deploy, manage and derive maximum value from it. However, an individual or organization blessed with good thought processes and ability to ask the right questions regarding how to source and make the best use of resources will continue to achieve superior performance.
Needless to say, success in life is also not a matter of being at the right place at the right time, what some people call ‘luck’. Except of course if that place is the place where opportunity meets your preparation, again with preparation being a product of your good thoughts process and informed choices.
It's about the Quality of your Thinking
As applied specifically to today’s highly competitive business environment, good thought processes and informed choices (not just huge resource endowments), result in success-critical capacity to consistently delight and pleasantly surprise customers and other stakeholders in the organization.
Good thought process is the fireproof way to developing a sustainable ability to offer valuable, innovative and exciting products and services that beat competition. Because it calls for attitude of being proactive, good thought process keeps business organizations ahead of the market in innovation, and strengthen their ability to drive and lead customers to areas of needs and wants they never could imagine. Good thought process is often referred to as Strategic Thinking.
Thus, achieving relevance and sustained successes especially as a business organization requires the creation and maintenance of an environment that fosters and rewards members for thinking strategically. That is, for possessing the attitude of continuously questioning and generating better alternatives for the overriding purpose, chosen direction as well as the dominant assumptions of the organization. It also involves the attitude and skills of critical reflection on approaches, tactics and methods adopted to realize corporate goals.
Dr Adams Adeize is a Business Analyst and Strategy Consultant. He teaches entrepreneurship and venture creation at the University of Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia. He is also a Senior Fellow (on Digital Economy) at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). He tweets on @A1AAdams.