The power of the mindset

Opting to be proactive

It sounds we’re bullish again about exports, especially in electronics. And the BPO industry appears confident, that it’s moving up the value chain. The global recession is now behind us?

The writer has spent 7 years in Eastern Europe – beyond his commitment to US AID/IESC – because of his fascination: how people have understood the power of the mindset! How can people embrace a positive mindset, be proactive and truly competitive? It’s not easy. It’s a great lesson in being human, with warts and all; no one claiming to be ‘holier than thou’ – but simply being stout-hearted men and women – yet they have helped spread integrity in business practices across the region.

Beyond celebrating rebounding exports, it is important for our electronics industry to gear and move up the value chain? And for the BPO industry to generate greater revenue from higher value-added services than from call centers – where margins are thin, and why India has moved up the value chain? But we’re humans, with warts and all – we can’t turn on a dime?

Yet we can learn the power of the mindset: to be proactive, not reactive? And be ahead of the curve?

After Eastern Europe had parted the Iron Curtain, they were fashion-followers, influenced by Madonna’s music videos aired incessantly on MTV – one of the first Western cable channels they had access to. And as fashion houses saw their eagerness to be chic, Eastern Europe became a favorite test-market site – and transformed them from Madonna wannabes to fashion trendsetters. And as they got into the EU, they became more curious of the outside world, especially as the world of travel opened up too.

It’s a stretch to say that they have become truly proactive; they have not. But the writer can talk about how a particular group has understood the power of the mindset . . . and a business model, if you will!

“Ours is a simple business: we make things and sell things – that are compelling, i.e., high value-added. It’s highly competitive but don’t imagine it as complex . . . ‘We are getting market acceptance but need your help how to get to the next level – to be profitable’ . . . Stop thinking that pricing is the only way to go – don’t narrow your playing field. Remember, you got out of a business because despite your low prices you were not getting market acceptance. Ergo: pricing is not the ‘be all and the end all’. It is compelling products that are the key. They are products that people will buy because they have high value-added. Which of the products you’re currently selling are compelling? We will only market those that are; and discontinue those that aren’t. We will bulk up the portfolio – develop more compelling products – in order to generate sufficient scale. That means you have to stop being reactive . . . Simply because you’ve got them, you don’t win selling products that don’t generate healthy margins – it’s a waste of scarce capital and time . . . and competition from nowhere can kill you. You have to be proactive: develop and sell only products that are compelling. Don’t start with the wrong foot, start with the right foot! Keep it simple!”

It took 7 years for them to internalize the dynamic – not surprising (?) for people who came out of the Iron Curtain – but are today a respected regional player, no longer a Western wannabe. Managers from Western global behemoths, once menacing competitors, now work for them! Everybody loves a winner!

Instead of just complaining about the unfairness of the [Western] world, we can be stout-hearted too – step up to the plate, and stick it to them (pardon the French)?