These articles are pieces of the same animal and they fit together because they face the same problem from different angles and points of view. The main topic is about people who are willing to learn, but they are not capable of seeing the whole picture. However, if people divide their work and form a team, then they might be to clearly see to complete picture once they put their experiences together.
In the poem “Blind Men and the Elephant”, six men are trying to figure out what an elephant looks like. They are blind and they are touching it from different sides so that each has a different perspective. “Though each was partly in the right, / And all were in the wrong” (“Blind Men and the Elephant). Executives are the same because they cannot say in a simple way what their strategy is. “Any strategy statement must begin with a definition of the ends that the strategy is designed to achieve”(Collis and Rukstad 90). Therefore, it is important to bear in mind what the goal is. Blue ocean strategy is also efficient because it can show what the goal might be. “Blue oceans denote all the industries not in existence today – the unknown market space, untainted by competition” (Kim and Mauborgne 78).
Mintzberg says that “the most successful strategies are visions, not plans” (Mintzberg 108). This way of thinking is related to the market which has not been discovered yet and with the implementation of a clear strategy. “In essence, the job of the strategist is to understand and cope with competition” (Porter 78). In conclusion, all of these readings are part of the same animal because in order to be successful in business, strategy has to be developed taking various perspectives into consideration.
Works Cited
Collis, David J., and Michael G. Rukstad. "Can you say what your strategy is?" Harvard Business Review 86.4 (2008): 82-90. Print.
Kim, W. C., and Renee G. Mauborgne. "Blue ocean strategy." Harvard Business Review 86.4 (2004): 76-84. Print.
Mintzberg, Henry C. "Fall and rise of strategic planning." Harvard Business Review (1994): 108-14. Print.
Porter, Michael E. "The five competitive forces that shape strategy." Harvard Business Review 86.1 (2008): 78-93. Print.
Saxe, John G. "Blind Men and the Elephant." English-Word Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http://wordinfo.info/unit/1>.
