Synthesising the Collection of Entrepreneurial Strategies - 30 May

One of my favourite courses this semester has been Entrepreneurial Strategies. Here we looked at a collection of what our lecturer considered some of the best readings on business theory. We studied theories on strategy, creativity and even the lives of modern day entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Steve Jobs.

While the course was full of interesting content, it never seemed like we had enough time to fully engage with the material as the program workload was just so intensive. Now that it is exams, it is the same story! There just is not enough time to read and study everything.

So in the name of entrepreneurship, we as a student body came together, worked SMART and summarised one or two readings each and uploaded them to Vula - a file-sharing platform provided by the university. This was truly a helpful exercise for me, as not only have I taken a short-cut approach to learning the content, but I'm considering reading the course pack over the holidays! It's that juicey.

We're encouraged to synthesise our own understanding of the theories we have learnt and to apply them to the life of Steve Jobs. I'll let you in on the distinct pattern I've noticed that informs how to achieve greatness in your lifetime...

I have drawn on Gladwell's theory of 10 000 hours until mastery of a discipline, Michael Porters theory of the comparative advantage of nations, and Blue Oceans Strategy. I would recommend reading up on those three things and applying them to the life of Steve Jobs, but I'll save you some time and tell you the end result of my discovery and how to apply it to your own life.

Step 1, gain 10 000 hours of mastery in the discipline in which you are most passionate. Step 2, find out what your nation has a comparative advantage in, and step 3, find a way to apply your discipline to that industry. The final key to doing step 3 right, is step 4, apply Blue Oceans Strategy to define your business and uniquely differentiate yourself by creating a 'blue ocean'.

Apply those steps and I'm sure you will succeed in having a major impact on your industry of choice!