There are four boys in my family (my
father inclusive) and they all engage in sports, except me. In fact, my father
said when I was handed to him in the delivery room he instantly knew that I did
not possess any athletic bone in my body. But, what I lacked in athletic skill,
I have made up for with my observation skills; and I am about to share one of
them with you. I noticed that each time I raced with no one, I tended to run
faster than when I raced with others during the P.E. classes. Matter of fact, the
first time I observed this phenomenon was one evening while racing my shadow
with the setting sun behind me. It was as though the absence of other runners
helped me to focus, with minimal distraction, on the race itself. But as a
scientist, I knew I had to repeat my hypothesis before it could become a
theory, so I set to test it when the right moment came along.
Eventually, my opportunity came. In primary
school, there was this unending rivalry between the class five and class six
pupils about who could outdo the other in school activities. Class six pupils
believed that their age, education and experience gave them a hedge over us.
Then one afternoon on the playgrounds, one pupil hinted that the fastest
runners were in class five and, true to their arrogant nature, the class six
pupils around could not let that go unchallenged. They took him up on the
‘blasphemy’ and a mini-brawl ensued. To settle the fight, a girl stepped in and
offered to arrange a relay race between both classes, to settle the superiority
clause once and for all. She went round and recruited the best runners from
each set (Alere, whose story is profiled in Needles or pencils, ran the third
leg for class five). Then, she put the word out that the Clash of Titans was slated for the following Friday, on the
makeshift racetracks that was at the back of the school.
When Friday finally came, no one could
wait for the lunch-break bells to go off and as soon as it did all the pupils
poured out like a swarm onto the playgrounds. The tracks were cleared, the
cheer-teams lined up along the sides and the runners took to their positions. I,
for one, did not really care who won. Not being the athletic type, I preferred
to stroll around the school compound with hands in my pockets or gist with
friends. But for lack of what to do on that day, I hung around to see the
outcome of the race. Suddenly, my hypothesis flashed through my mind and I felt
this was going to be my litmus test. So I walked up to Dauda, my classmate running
the last leg, and I revealed my findings to him. I asked him to run as though
he was sprinting alone and not as if he was competing against someone; and I
walked away.
When the whistle was blown to get onto
their marks, the anticipation was at a feverish pitch as all the observers were
chanting the names of their favourite runners. When the ‘Go’ command was given,
the runners charged like unleashed steeds on steroids. After the second leg, it
was clear that class six could possibly carry the day until Alere ran his
portion and put us back in the running. However when the last change of batons
took place, Dauda dashed off as though neither of his feet was touching the
ground. As they crossed the finish line, the decision was indisputable; the
class five pupils had won. I felt proud that I spoke to him although I was not
sure if my suggestion had made the difference; it was just okay that my class
had won.
It
was not until my second year in the university, that I knew the result of my
test. I was talking with some friends on the walkway when I looked up and saw
my Dauda (I had not seen in him eight years because we attended different
secondary schools). He walked up to me and not remembering my name he said,
‘Long time no see, this guy. You told me something the other day that helped me
win the relay race against the class six pupils’. I couldn’t say a word as I
was shocked that not only did my suggestion work, it was that remarkable that
he remembered it.
You are probably
not the only one who recognizes the profit potential of your chosen business; there
are others who have discovered it too and they are called the competition. In
fact, I will be afraid to go into a business that has no competition, because it’s
an indication that it might just be a dry hole. But, while it is good to have
the competition around, it might also lead to our business failure if we adopt
a poor strategy to counter it. A particularly poor strategy that many people implement is
competing with the competition. Indulge me a bit if you find my argument
contradictory.
I find so many
businesses trying dedicatedly to outperform other businesses that they forget
why they set out in the first place. It’s a thin line that separates the desire
to provide quality products/services and the desire to corner the market. However,
after a while it becomes evident what your business is all about; because the
one focuses on the customer and the other on the competition. I believe you
will not choose the latter because it is quite distracting like the other
runners in my P.E. class. What I propose is competing with your own potential.
Competing for what you can have, not for what others already have. Someone
might argue that it’s illusionary, but my racetrack experience proves
otherwise. If I were the CEO of Samsung for instance, I wouldn’t bother
competing with Apple Inc. Instead, I would have a sit-down with my think tank and
fashion our company strategy based on our strengths and the potential of what
we can achieve; because I believe that if I compete with the competitor long
enough, all I could ever become is his second best.
I strongly
advise you to adopt a business strategy that will make you constantly try to
outdo yourself. Finally, don't forget that having no competition makes us
lethargic; competing with others gets us distracted; but competing with our own
potential opens up vistas of untapped possibilities to us.
Nice one
ReplyDeleteCompeting with our own potential...... Thanks so much my dear brother. May God continue to grant you inspirations in Jesus' name
ReplyDeleteBeautiful piece
ReplyDeleteThis is unarguably a very deep revelation. I caught that too. ... "competing with our own potential".
ReplyDelete