Raj and Mohan are two management professionals at an organization, who are very committed and quite enthusiastic to contribute to the team. Both of them are working on the same project where Raj is the lead. He is doing a very good job and the project is going on very successfully. Raj soon gets a very good name and even the head of the organization starts paying attention to Raj’s suggestions. During this process, though Mohan is quite happy that the project is going on well, he also feels a bit frustrated that he is not getting the level of attention that Raj is getting. He wants his suggestions also to be given high importance, so he gets into a competitive mode with Raj and decides to prove that he can give better suggestions than Raj. And whenever his inputs for the project are not approved, he started to feel even more frustrated and became even more competitive and this turned into a vicious circle that started to negatively affect him and the team.
Above is a typical unhealthy situation that happens in many organizations. So what’s the solution for this? Blue Ocean Strategy! In 2004 W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne published a wonderful book called Blue Ocean Strategy. While that book deals with the context of how companies should approach the markets, in this blog we are going to look into how the core insight of the book can be effectively applied by the leaders within the organization, especially in a way that develops congruence. First, let’s understand what Blue Oceans are!
Red Ocean Vs Blue Ocean
Red Ocean refers to the cutthroat and “bloody” competitive environment – where you have to fight with the sharks. It’s a pretty crowded place with defined boundaries and your focus is on beating your rivals. Blue Ocean, on the other hand, refers to the untapped market space, untainted by the competition – where you will be swimming with the dolphins. Here, instead of fighting for the demand, we create it – by exploring the possibilities! Blue Ocean Strategy gave rise to many successful businesses worldwide.
Blue Ocean Strategy is very relevant within the organizations also! Instead of seeing your team members as competitors, you start exploring untapped areas and focus on bringing more opportunities for your organization. This is how you will become a successful intrapreneur.
In a parallel universe, when Raj begins to develop his influence, Mohan begins to feel happy for his teammate’s success and that the project is in good hands. While still continuing to provide his support for the present project, Mohan now begins to focus on other issues that the organization is facing. He then thinks of solutions and comes up with an action plan and discusses it with a relevant superior and starts working on it. He soon starts developing a team for the outcome he is working towards and becomes a very valuable person at the organization.
How Blue Ocean Strategy helps you become a Congruent Leader
I truly believe that all of us have the intention to be caring, considerate and contributing members to our team. But due to various influences, we get into mindsets that contradict this. For example, a mindset that obstructs us to be effective team players is the Scarcity mindset, which involves thinking that when someone gets something, you are actually losing something. But when you start using the Blue Ocean Strategy, you begin to develop an Abundance mindset, which is about acknowledging that there is plenty for us all.
Another aspect that can obstruct us to be effective team players is – getting discouraged that we don’t have the necessary influence to make positive changes happen. Maybe you think that your team needs to follow a different strategy for better success, but maybe your ideas are not given due importance. This can lead to frustration, resentment, etc. Again Blue Ocean Strategy is very helpful here. Instead of focusing on what you cannot change, explore new territories, and start to make things happen. Through this, your team members will begin to trust you even more, and gradually you may be able to positively influence the things which you previously couldn’t.
In this way, Blue Ocean Strategy helps you develop congruence and become an effective leader in your organization. Hope you are going to swim in blue oceans from now!
Best Wishes & Lots of Love,
Vedavyas