Especially for SME – 9: Resources without M!

13 October 2021

SME 1: You mentioned about 6 or 7 M’s of resources: is that all? Or are there any other resources?

Mr. Lowe: These 7 M’s are mostly tangible resources: they can be seen, counted, weighed etc. But there are also other resources which are intangible – which cannot be seen even. And as I have said earlier, what we cannot see is more powerful than what we can! As they are more powerful, they can and do create all other tangible resources!

SME 2: What are these, I am curious to know.

Mr. Lowe: The first of these I would like to highlight is uniqueness. Everyone of us is unique, every SME is unique, every organization is unique, every institution is unique, every state, country is unique. But yet we are not able to see it!

SME 3: What is this uniqueness?

Mr. Lowe: Uniqueness is that in which we are different from the vast majority of similar others. But in today’s world we want to be same as others! In Nature nothing is same as any other and even in same species, they want to grow without interfering with the neighbor’s growth. I have seen the starting point of many SME’s is : Hey, that guy is doing well, so what he is doing seems to be more profitable and so let me also do the same thing as he does. After starting he realizes it is not his cup of tea at all as his own uniqueness does not match with the niche his neighbor is in. When we think of diversifying also, the absence of knowledge about one’s own unique strengths comes in the way: Ignoring our uniqueness we choose some line for diversification which does not suit us and learn a very costly lesson. In today’s world, every woman wants to be a man and man like woman! Once we recognize our uniqueness, in what we are different, we are internally very happy and confident of ourselves and what we are doing.

SME 2: Hey, is the line in which we operate today in line with our uniqueness?

Mr Lowe: If it is so, you won’t be struggling! Struggling is the first symptom of pursuing anything that does not match our uniqueness. Look at how plants and trees grow: They grow into the gaps of other plants and trees and not go and hit against them like we do in business! In this process of doing the same thing that somebody else does, both lose, what we call a lose-lose proposition. Should we be doing this or do something that matches our uniqueness so well that nobody- even the Chinese or Japs or Americans -can beat us?

SME 1: You are making this so juicy! We all want to know how to find our uniqueness.

Mr. Lowe: Whatever you have been successful in a significant way, what you think is your biggest successes to date, think of those and filter out the common element from those success events, as you would not have had such big success but for that common element: We call this common element your uniqueness.

SME 2: Similarly, we can think of the worst failures we have had and filter out what factor present or absent was common in those; we call this common element our uniqueness.

Mr. Lowe: Lovely! That is it! Even what factor was common -present or absent- in our worst failures is our uniqueness! What I mean is uniqueness need not be your unique strength only; uniqueness can be your weakness even. Knowing your unique weakness and locating an area where that is needed, can give you success as well. In other words, a combination of our own unique strengths and weaknesses makes us more unique indeed, as there is nobody having the same quantum and quality of our unique strength and our unique weakness. …….. contd.