A SOSI Member writes:

I am having a strategy problem. I have found a man who could bring considerable resources to my biz in terms of money and ideas. He was very enthus about working with me but now it seems like he has stalled. Nothing is moving forward and I am starting to think he may have his hands too full to worry about me. The question is why do I always find myself depending from someone else performing and if I don't get the result expected I get ridden with anxiety. Can you point me towards an article that can help me?

First, we always depend on others, in one form another (9.2.1 Vulnerability of Personnel), but you are right to be concerned about depending upon one person narrowly. No one cares about our position as much as we do so we cannot surrender control to anyone.

The first principles of strategy revolve around gathering information (2.0 Developing Perspective) and specifically broadening our network (2.4 Contact Networks ). The responses of any one given individual are unpredictable (2.3.2 Reaction Unpredictability) and, in a very real sense uncontrollable. Though we may share a mission with others, our goals especially our priorities, are never precisely the same (1.6.1 Shared Mission).

While this one person may present the best opportunity you currently know about, you can pursue it while looking for other opportunities(3.0 Identifying Opportunities). As Sun Tzu says, we must think about our position like water. If it is block in one direction, we must flow in another direction. Even when we are making progress in one direction, the search for new opening (3.1.4 Openings) doesn’t stop. Does that make sense?

However, you should also think about getting the opportunity you have, that is, getting your partner moving. The problem is most likely the lack of a clear direction and a real commitment to pursue that direction. I would identify some small quick action (5.4 Minimizing Action) that bring you together in a joint mission and getting his commitment to pursuing it (8.3 Securing Rewards) think of this as a sales process. Gary