Strategy - Charting Paths - Destiny

The analogy of destiny has a very intriguing relevance to career charting.

 

Every employee in a well-organized corporation has a “career path.” In an intern of today, a corporation like Reckitt Benckiser or Proctor & Gamble, for instance, would see a brand manager of tomorrow. This is partly known to the intern, but not completely certain. In fact, even the management or the human resource function would not give the intern the next step forward until the intern realizes some of the goals needed to let her/ him go forward.

 

And although every person who joins such a corporation knows all about the corporation’s corporate philosophy and what it is that will help them rise through the corporate ladder – they still may not be able to do it. There may be lack of courage, faith, belief. The attitude or personality may not match.

 

The course is there. The career path is there. And the instructions on how to go ahead each step of the way are clear. Yet how many actually realize this career path? Some may not even have been meant for this fate, but another. They may never go forward, but on another path.

 

Similarly, I believe, Allah sees in us a potential, and promises us certain results if we take certain actions. We all know this. How many of us do this?

 

The analogy of destiny is also very relevant to business strategy. Taking certain right actions at each point of decision lead to right results. Making mistakes or doing uncertain things leads to uncertain decisions at each point, and aggregate towards a chaos as we go up… but let’s leave that for “mathematics & business.”

 

… This is just one example. There are many more instances in which the philosophy if Islam directly outlines a corporate or personal professional philosophy.