Rule 6 from Stephen A. Scharzman’s book What it Takes covers a broad range of ideas that boil down to data and its use. With school going online during this pandemic response, our world is in the midst of a fundamental shift in a whole host of areas like work space, transportation, education, food service, social interactions, and the tiny gap between predatory activities and hording to preparing for the unknown. Who knew toilet paper was so high on everyone’s list?
The first sentence of the rule says information is a business’s most important asset. This is of course a very simplistic statement, and the rule has two more statements that carry the “heart” of his learnings. He implies data, perspectives, and then … (the books editing messed up the whole statement). The concept is the more you know and the more ways you look at things, the more likely you are to outwit your competition. He conveys the idea of outwitting your competition as spotting patterns and anomalies.
From a purely technical standpoint, Apple identified the then upcoming pandemic and warned their investors early that sales would not meet expectations. Those who saw the Apple announcement as a bell weather most likely sold everything and are waiting for the crash to finish before scooping up bargains as the market returns. Apple has more data and more perspectives on things than I do, and this rule naturally plays out in their favor over mine. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and uncountless others have lots of data and lots of perspectives, and have huge advantages in the market. Kinda makes you wonder how big the gap really is.
The final statement of the rule says to be open to new people, new experiences, and new knowledge. The message is to get more data. The hidden piece is to get more perspectives. The true differentiator is having the wherewithal to use the new data and new perspectives to understand patterns and anomalies in human or market behavior in such a may as to make personal benefit for you or your company. Over the past seven months or so, some colleagues of mine and I have been trying to start a new business. We had data, we had perspectives, we saw patterns, and we saw anomalies. We had everything the rule says we needed to succeed, right? Wrong, we needed money and a lot of it. When the price of oil dropped as far as it did, we lost out on an opportunity.
The message of the rule is really no different than what the Bible has for us in Proverbs.
Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety. 11:14
Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established. 15:22
The multitude of counselors is essentially the same as a multitude of perspectives. Safety and planning are tools to avoid plans going awry or failing. But success does not come from following the masses. Having many counselors is not a democracy where everyone votes and the one with the most votes wins. The trick is to get the right data, get counselors with the right perspectives, get counselors with the ability to see patterns and anomalies, to make plans that succeed in a multitude of environments, have the resources required to seize the opportunity, and lets not forget, have the blessing of God.
As great as any plan might be, as low as the risks might be, as accurate as the models might be, as far ranging the perspectives might be, and as complete as the data may be, we must always remember that God picks the winners. We are to make plans, we are to use all the data we can get, we are to pick the best counselors we can find, we are to look for patterns, anomalies, opportunities, and we are to do the best we can with them, but we also have to pray, to rely on God for success, and move on to the next thing if this one doesn’t work out. Sometimes, the best outcome is failure early. Failure later can have bigger costs or cause missing of better opportunities.
The country is looking to our government to make the best plan possible and follow it. Our leaders are making the best plan possible everyday and changing as fast as the data or patterns tell them. This makes for messy politics and confusion for many. But God calls for us to trust Him for “this day’s daily bread.” When we gain skill at following God on a daily basis, we understand everyday is different and the goal post change with little or no warning. We wake up, we pray, we plan, and then we charge forth to succeed in glorifying God. Any other success is secondary. The next few weeks will be more of the unknown as the last. Beyond that no one on earth knows what is coming, but God does, and He will reveal our path day by day.