A good good friend and business associate of mine, Steven Feinberg, wrote an amazing book called, “The Advantage-Makers: How Exceptional Leaders Win by Creating Opportunities Others Don’t”
I’m flattered and proud to be one of the ‘Advantage Makers’ he references in the book
The book opens with a true story that is a great illustration of what I’d like you to learn today.
It goes like this:
“Long ago, in Medieval Austria, a small but determined army was trying desperately to hold on to its fortress against tremendous odds.
For months they’d been surrounded by a hostile army.
With no way to contact outside help, their replenish stocks, supplies had dwindled to a desperate level.
Only one cow and 2 bags of grain remained.
The fortress soldiers, wracked with fatigue and hunger, turned to their commander for guidance.
Expecting their leader to say, “Ration the food for as long as we can hold out”, they were surprised when they received a different reply.
“Kill the cow, stuff it with all the grain we have and toss it over the wall when the next wave of attacks ensue.”
This seemed illogical, foolhardy, and dangerous.
However, during the next attack, they followed the unexpected order and heaved the grain-stuffed cow over the wall.
Without a doubt they anticipated a slow and anguished death by starvation.
But the commander had for-seen something that no one else had.
Confused by the bovine assault, several of the attackers took the cow back to their officer’s tent.
The attacking officer saw it as a signal of defiance from the fortress commander as well as a message that the soldiers had the will to fight on.
He reasoned that if they could afford to throw an entire cow stuffed with excess supplies over the wall, they must have vast stores of supplies; enough to last the winter.
He ordered an immediate retreat.”
Can you imagine that?
What the commander did may seem brilliant to us now. We may wonder, in awe, how he came up with this amazing ‘breakthrough’ strategy. But in truth, what the commander did, while eloquent, was common sense.
What he had been doing was not working. In fact, had he decided to ration the food as others had suggested, within two more weeks they would still be under siege, but without food…and so no better off.
So he chose to shift his vantage point 180 degrees!
He sent a counter-intuitive message to his attackers. A message that implied that they had plenty of supplies and that they should prepare for battle.
This story demonstrates an important skill set you’ll want to develop as you begin building a business.
Here is how I describe it in Steven’s book:
“You have to practice seeing all the possible interactions on the playing board, not a two-dimensional, flat board, but a three dimensional view that enables you to see from all angles and perspectives.
A two-dimensional view doesn’t let you see the relative position of things; you can become numb, insensitive, fooled into thinking you know what’s going on; you need a field a vision to see all the players, the key gaps, the openings, and opportunities so you can mobilize and get in position to be in front.
And this must be an active process.”
The relationships on the game board are directly related to the complexity of your business model and the competitive nature of your market niche.
As I explained in General George Patton’s Secret to Entrepreneurial Success, just as you’ll want to understand everything about your business and how it functions, you’ll want to know what is going on around your business in the market-place.
And just as you won’t need to actually DO everything in your business yourself, you’ll not need to tackle everything around your business yourself either. But you DO want to understand it and how it affects you.
Take a look around your business or business concept. Look at what others in your industry or market are ‘doing’ right now.
Do you see any similarities or differences amongst and yourself?
Then without judging whether or not you believe they will work, make a list of 3 strategies that are 180%, and going in the opposite direction from the everyone else in your niche.
Question everything…Question the givens…Question the limitations of time and resources…Include alternative structures and/or business models…
Explore the possibilities….
Some say “perception is reality”. That may or may not be true. But what IS true is that perception drive behavior.
Try looking at your business or business concept from an alternative perspective.
Volkswagen shifted the perception of the VW Bug from ugly to beautiful, and in so doing went from loser to timeless winner.
I once had an objective to triple revenue in one quarter…..and I accomplished it and more in less than 30 days….How?
I questioned the status-quo opted for a 180 degree strategy and tripled our prices.
We ended up with 4 times as many, higher paying customers.
Share your most radical counter-intuitive idea by commenting below. Be sure to share this post with others you know by using the “Like”, “Tweet” and/or “Share The Wealth” links on this page.
I’m standing for all that’s possible for you in life and business.
Sincerely,
Steve
PS – After nearly 20 years of practice, I’ve masted the 5 key Advantage Making skills needed to continuously create breakthrough success strategies in business. In my PerfectBizBuilder Program you’ll learn how to master these same success methods and techniques from my team of expert business success specialists. This is not your average run of the mill business mentorship program.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I am implementing 180^ today! Thank you for this insight, Steve.
Sharyl