Warren Buffet is the ultimate contrarian. When the market is up and people are excited, he is selling; when the market is down and people are freaked out, he is buying.
Going with the trend or what appears to be the practical thing to do often is not. Going with the majority can sometimes be a fatal mistake. The Level Seven Way often challenges what are often thought of as practical business practices. Sometimes it’s the seemingly impractical that produces the best results.
Here are some typical approaches that happen in business and their apparent impractical counterparts that have proven to produce better results.
Focus on the tactical work in the business versus focus on working strategically ON the business. Working On your business produces better strategies so that the tactical work is more efficient and effective.
Disregarding employee’s opinions versus creating collaboration and open participation. Engaging your employees so you have more hands and minds working on the common goals of the business.
Narrowing your focus on one primary goal like sales versus take a whole business collective results approach. Establish multiple qualitative and quantitative goals in order to ensure a balanced self sustaining business.
Point is this; just because everyone else does it a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best approach. Look at the real results to determine if you should take a contrarian approach to your business development.