The WHAT is the finishing line and the HOW is crossing it, says Mario Pretorius in the second of his daily tips to corporate management (extracted from the manuscript of his new book “The Unconventional CEO: Common sense outside of conventional Management thinking”). “So many ventures end up on the rocks of hard reality because someone did not include the HOW” he notes. GK
There is a world of difference in knowing WHAT and knowing HOW. Many strategies are thick and fast on the WHAT aspect. The thinking is clear; the actions are cogent – as sensible in morality as it is in intended benefit. A quick march to Moscow before the snow sets in. Destruction of the Soviet bases behind the Urals and voila! The oil riches would fuel the Wehrmacht and Lebensraum will extend to the Pacific. Yes. This makes perfect sense as a strategy – and a reason to go to war. There is no disputing the WHAT. There are a dozen codicils on expanding the WHAT in good cheer and in supreme acceptance. Round of applause please. The confusion with the HOW is often that of extrapolation: we will do as before – only more. We will do what we know – no less – and the prize will be ours. It reeks that so many ventures end up on the rocks of hard reality because someone did not include the HOW, and someone else did not impertinently and insistently ask about the HOWs. The Reserves must be fresh. There must be ample time to revisit the inconveniences when reality sets in and the Enemy counter-moves. `There must be the will to innovate and compromise and somehow produce the HOW in dire circumstances. There are no medals for those who perish in view of the finish line. It must be crossed – the WHAT – and it will be by the HOW. ends
