I believe that if we as Namibians do not spend enough time on our important goals and priorities, our life can become irrelevant. This is because of today’s fast paced world that can put us in the danger of becoming irrelevant. As individuals we usually allocate time to things based on our own assessment of their urgency and importance. Think about your own daily schedule, with a lot of urgent matters demanding immediate attention. Usually we are very fast in the way we react to them. For instance, an angry customer, a plant accident, serious quality control problem or perhaps at times a phone ringing in the office. It is my personal observation that in Namibia, we usually handle crises in a reactive mode, applying well-worn solutions to what we assume to be familiar problems.
I will remind you all that importance has to do with goals and results, rather than urgency. Building relationships, creating innovative products, providing excellent customer service are critical, but it is a fact that they usually do not have crises-level urgency. The more entrepreneurs or business owners allow their time to be consumed by crises, the less time they have at their disposal to look into business activities that can produce results. The advancement of technology continues at a very fast pace, so do our daily stress levels. The more stress business owners experience, they could become less empathetic. At times stress is inevitable and can impede on the values of trust and respect that are also the building blocks of good relationships and supportive partnerships in a business.
To remain competitive and relevant in today’s business world we have to learn ways to recognise situations, consider alternatives, think of implications, learn from mistakes and thoughtfully think about the best action to take. It is almost a given that we all are capable of making better decisions, but in a crises mode we will be faced with tremendous challenges.
If we continue to spend our lives in crises, our behaviour will continue to be reactive and the quality of our thinking and the manner in which we view the world of business will be poor. As entrepreneurs we all have to keep in mind that new technologies are introduced on a daily basis and products and problems challenged us on a daily basis.
I will leave you with a few pointers how you could perhaps break the cycle of becoming irrelevant in the world of business/entrepreneurship.
· Start identifying one or two goals, which are very close to your heart. Do not over-commit. When you achieve you first set of goals, move on to the next.
· Learn to say no. This will avoid taking on tasks that may help other people with their priorities, but not your own.
· Some business owners really display control freak habits and this could be really dangerous. Learn to delegate as you may discover that you can find a work routine, which could give someone else a valuable experience.
· Think every decision you make through twice, and try and apply the important goals you have identified, where it could possibly add the most value. These pointers might look very simple in theory but the practical application might be daunting. I leave you with Goethe’s words that he said three centuries ago: Things that matters most must never be left at the mercy of those things that matters least.