Do you ever find yourself in tough business situations where you don’t know what to do. I have a very bizarre, but effective strategy. I like to read books by business geniouses like Donald Trump and Warren Buffet. Of course, everyone has a different opinions of the business brains of this generation, but these two are people who I admire for their thinking skills and refinement, not to mention common sense.
If you live in Asia somewhere, you might not know who are great business thinkers are in America, but it pays to go to the bookstore and read about them. Another great book is from ancient China — Sun Tze’s Art of War. You can learn a lot about war strategy here, and there are many parallels between business and war — especially if you do business with the type of people I do!
So, what about my crazy strategy. What is it?
Simply by putting yourself in the place of a mega-genious, you can pick up some of their genious. Does this make sense? It doesn’t, but it works none the less. If I pretend to be Donald Trump solving a difficult business equation, I will generally come up with a much more refined solution to my problem, than if I try to solve it by being my frustrated self. I picture myself being him, and thinking like him — I mull over complicated equations coming up with insights that he would have and opinions that he would have. I would say, “watch out for that — in the long run that could end your business relationship”. Or, I might say, “The price is right, but how much are you sacraficing in quality — is it worth it in the long run?”. Or, I might say, “This company offers great flexibility — you might have to sacrafice in other areas, but the flexibility is worth a lot”. Who knows what thoughts would come into my head by channeling into someone else’s consciousness.
So, next time you have a business decision or problem, just ask yourself…
If I were (insert name of great business man in your country), what would I do?