In this article, I examine the two enemies of prosperity that I see most often, one external and one internal. The Hierarchy Explained Strategic planning provides the definition of prosperity through vision. That vision is a function of the rational output from both investment and competitive strategies. Vision not only clarifies where and what an organization has to be in three to five years, but the business model and implementation path that will deliver those objectives. In America, freedom and opportunity are the truth.
Prosperity is the result of identifying and exploiting opportunity.
However, it can not be fully exploited without the participation of an organization's members. Most management teams do a terrible job of communicating their plans, yet they are aghast at the low levels of participation from their fellow members. Only with trust can we turn participation into ownership, creating the kind of commitment that results in ever-greater levels of productivity. We can survive only by being more productive than our competitors as our industries mature over the top of their life-cycle curves. Chaos What goes up must come down.