#knowledgereview

[theknowledgereview]

[ridhojeftha]

Mission Ignition #4: Knowledge Review

This week I want to do something entirely different.

Even though I enjoy reading, I am a very slow reader. In my current busy schedule (writing a thesis and all) I do not have a lot of time to read. I do however watch a lot of TV as it is a medium of distraction. You don't have to watch TV to be watching TV. You only need to glance at the screen occasionally (and when there's action :D ).

I therefore cannot do a Knowledge Review on some amazing book that I've read. I don't read. The next best thing is to go all out crazy and do it on an amazing TV show that I've watched.

Cue theme music:

Okay, that is not the original theme music but it sets a nice tone for reading the rest of this post. Actually no, stop reading for a few minutes and just listen to the lyrics. It always gets me happy.

So you probably have guessed by now that this amazing show is Pokémon. "...But Ridhô, aren't you too old to be watching silly kids cartoons?" My answer, I think some grown ups should watch more Pokémon. It's taught me quite a lot of "life lessons", but that's a story for another day.

If you don't know anything about the show, here is a quick intro:  The main character, Ash Kechum, wants to be the very best Pokémon Master like no one ever was. The real test is in catching these Pokémon and thereafter training them, a worthy cause indeed. Ash and his friends travel across the land, searching far and wide, while teaching their Pokémon how to harness and control its power.

I however, want to focus on Team Rocket, the show's most frequent antagonists. Made up of Jessie, James and a talking Pokémon named Meowth, these three Team Rocket field agents travel alongside our heroes in the hopes of capturing Pickachu, Ash's Pokémon. (To avoid confusion I will refer to them simply as 'the trio' and the evil organization that they work for as 'Team Rocket'). Even though they are the bad guys, I admire this trio and their other Pokémon. Here's why:

As part of Team Rocket, their main goal is to steal Pokémon, especially rare and powerful ones. The trio however, fails every time at accomplishing this goal. Their plans are always foiled either by Ash and co or simply by their own stupidity. Every now and then, they come up with an truly awesome idea.

How about an example .

In this episode (Lapras of Luxury) the trio encounter a school of Lapras, a water-type Transport Pokémon. Instead of just planning to steal the Lapras, they apply an entrepreneurial mindset by asking a simple Smart Question. 

"What if we were to collect all of those Pokémon? We could rent them out and run our own water taxi service." 

Team Rocket's main goal is always to steal and sell rare Pokémon. The trio however goes above and beyond this malevolent aim and thinks of ways that they can make money. They have had various schemes and plans, similar to this one, which could have succeeded if they had gone about their business correctly (and I don't mean stealing). They always fail because their plans rely on stealing Pokémon, something that they're really bad at.

What is there to learn from Jessie, James and Meowth?

As I said before, this trio has a reputation of failing. So what can we learn from a bunch of failures? Quite a lot actually.

1. Determination Let's forget about their evil intentions for a while and generalise their situation a bit. The trio is, in a way, just like anyone else. They're striving to accomplish a goal that they have set for themselves. They can go around and steal ANY other Pokémon that they want. It could be that easy. However, they have set their sights on Pickachu and are determined to accomplish this goal.

This determination is one of the traits that I admire. We should be just as determined to accomplish our own goals. Failure doesn't mean that you should give up, it merely serves to show you what not to do in order to gain success.

2. Failing is good... They do not learn from their mistakes. Which is the a major contributor to their everlasting losing streak. They try the same kind of plans over and over and over. It's no wonder that they're getting the same result every time. Failing and making mistakes is good but only if you learn and grow from it.

3. Use your strengths Know your strengths and use them to your advantage.If there's at least one thing that the trio is good at, it's digging holes and waiting for Ash and co. to fall into them. This trick has worked almost every time. It is therefore a good starting strategy. Ultimately, they don't know how to follow through. 

4. Know how to follow through Also, have backup plans. Mitigations. Something that they never have.

5. Prioritise They know when to set aside goals when a better opportunity arises. As seen in the episode above, they stop trying to capture Pickachu and go for the Lapras, as this will lead to a better outcome. They also know that if their plans fail, they could always default back to trying to steal Pickachu. Similarly, it is good to prioritise. Evaluate your goals and know which you can postpone or remove in order to obtain other goals. Know which goals have higher priority and which are no longer relevant.

6. Innovate Time and again the trio comes up with a brilliant idea. In this episode, it is to start a water taxi service. This is completely out of character for Team Rocket field agents. Working for Team Rocket, they should only be trying to steal Pokémon (which will be sold to make money for Team Rocket). They however, come up with innovative ideas which are sometimes quite entrepreneurial.

But they're the bad guys, so they won't ever learn from their mistakes and consequently never succeed. Or I might just be watching Pokémon a bit too much.

Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again.

ridhojeftha

Mission Ignition:

This blog series is based on the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation's Ignitions program. This type of Ignition activity is called the Knowledge Review. Read (an article, journal, book etc.) something, specifically on leadership or any entrepreneurial endeavour, before reviewing the content and analysing it in terms of the leadership or entrepreneurial mindsets, attitudes and behaviours employed in this endeavour. Explore  how things could have been done differently.