Mediocrity and the art of survival in Singapore

I never was much of a runner, but decided to participate in a run at the Frost & Sullivan charity event – Frost the Trail, a 10km individual race at the MacRitchie Reservoir Park in Singapore. I should have practiced and prepared for my debut attempt but that never really happened.

So here I was at the flag off, unprepared and inexperienced with little idea of what lay in store for me. The bunch of runners around me looked high onenergy and well prepared competitors. The possibility of finishing last or maybe not finishing at all became real to me.

Random thoughts ran through my head and suddenly it dawned upon me that this is exactly how mediocre companies would feel in today’s highly competitive marketplace… Underprepared, overwhelmed and struggling to survive.

After the initial panic I managed to calm myself and put on my consultant hat. What was my base level goal in the current scenario? – It was to complete the run, not injure myselfand avoid being last. I made a quick assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. I realized I could walk fast but did not have the endurance to run during a climb.

I did have the capacity to run fast but only in short bursts and that too on a flat surface. But running entailed the risk of injury. After weighing in all the factors and pros and cons finally a clear strategy emerged to help me meet my base level goals.

My aim was to conserve energy to ensure completion of the run, walk briskly during climbs, run fast in short bursts while going downhill and on aflat surface and be cautious at all times, particularly during the tough terrain to avoid being hurt.

Similarly, mediocre companies competing in the tough, competitive market place must first set realistic base level survival goals. Make a practical assessment of your capabilities and develop a clear plan that optimizes your performance. Find those niches in the marketplace where you can run faster than competition, accept those climbs where your emphasis is just to walk briskly while others are running.

Conserve your cash and manage costs so that you have the resources to capitalize on opportunities when the wind flows your way. Be cautious with disruptive technologies as it could be the tough terrain that can badly hurt your finances.

As the race finally flagged off, all the participants shot off at top speedcompeting with the leaders. Within a few minutes I was among the last few folks. With great conviction I stuck to my plan of walking briskly and consistently with short quick runs while going downhill.

For the first two kilometres I was among the last few but I began to catchup with the other mediocre runners who had started off with great speed but had gradually worn themselves out. Very soon started going past a bunch of exhausted runners who could not sustain their initial sprint with the leaders. Some of them were hurt and yet a few others were forced to pause for a rest.

If you are with a company with limited resources you will be forced to make tough trade-offs. Should you react to price competition from the market leaders and bleed your resources? Do you really want to buy market share at the expense of profitability? Should you react to competitive pressures and get drawn out far away from your plan?

The clear answer is “If you want to survive, stay on course and play on your strengths. Find the market segment that you can serve better than the leaders. Eventually you will overtake many companies that try to emulate the leaders.“

As I raced ahead I was now confident that my strategy was working and I was sure to meet my base level goals. I now had the self-belief toset a higher goalof achieving a better timing. I decided to set a time milestone for every kilometer.

The final two kilometer stretch was known to be a flat road, so I could definitely ramp up my speed at the end. Now I shifted my focus to accelerating while still protecting my primary goal of completing the run unhurt.

Striving for excellence is a continuum. Your organization may start off at the lowest rung in the competitive landscape but if you have a clever strategy aligned to your organizations’ capabilities then you can continue to leave the competitors behind.

As you prepare for the next set of goals, do grow in your areas of adjacency to minimize the downward risk on your primary goals. Mediocre companies need to build their competencies incrementally.

Eventually after passing through an upward spiral of success you will reach an inflection point where you have the talent and resources to compete head-on with the best organizations in the world. From that point onwards you can strive to be a market leader.

I ended the run safe and sound and definitely was not last. Someday I aim to be among the top 20% of runners. But I realized that if you are mediocre at running or in the marketplace you cannot emulate the leaders. You need to first master the art of survival while you embark on the journey from mediocrity to excellence.