Welcome to part 19 of the MetroSculpters Consulting Actionable Business Advice Series.
With knowledge comes responsibility. We covered this in our last two series.
But, if responsibility says “I did it”, “I am the cause of it”, “I brought it about” where does that leaves us?
We caused the death of tens of millions of people, like Adolf Hitler. Or we stole billions of US dollars from a poor economy like Nigeria and hid them in wealthy economies, causing socioeconomic dislocations in the 1990s. Or we invented the Internet, the smartphone, the speed train, hypersonic spacecraft, time travel, etc.
Anyway, we did it. We know what we did.
But how did we do it?
That is the third part of the mastermind or mastery formula – Control.
As shown in the diagram attached to the last email, we have three angles of the triangle – Knowledge, Responsibility, Control.
If we have knowledge of someone or something, we automatically have a responsibility (either to keep it secret or modify it or make it better or produce something from it or share it, etc.), and we must assume control of the knowledge for us to be able to do anything the knowledge.
The outcome of our use of the knowledge we have is what we are held responsible for, as the cause. The 'how' we use the knowledge is Control.
Without Control, there cannot be Responsibility or even the acquisition of Knowledge itself.
Control follows the natural lifecycle or cycle of action or cycle of life. In any cycle, there is a 1) beginning, 2) continuance, and 3) an end.
The anatomy of Control is – Start, Change, Stop.
The ability to start something, to change it, and stop it is at the foundation of all creation and production, including perception, communication, human interaction, and organization management.
The ability and willingness to control self, others, and the physical objects in one’s environment or sphere of influence produce profound ability.
Where control has knowledge at its base, one will become competent. And where the Knowledge and Control factors are accompanied by Responsibility one will assume power and mastery over the particular activity willy-nilly.
As an example, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the apex regulatory agency, and bankers to the Federal Government of Nigeria recently issued a circular to the banking industry. The circular stated that henceforth, any bank customer whose loan by Bank A becomes nonperforming can have their (the bank customer’s) account in Bank B debited to fund the nonperforming loan the customer owed to Bank A.
This is an example of the KRC principle. Here the CBN has the Knowledge that loan sharks in the economy took loans from banks with the intention not to repay them, causing the banks, the AMCON, other bank customers, and the economy grievous harm. Now, the CBN took Responsibility for that Knowledge that the banks can be killed by bad debts. Then it Controlled the situation by issuing the go-ahead to the banks to bring the economic saboteurs to order.
To master any activity, including and especially organization management, one must:
1) have, learn, understand, and know the true, current, and applied Knowledge,
2) have the ability and willingness to take ownership or Responsibility for creating or causing whatever became the outcome of the use of the knowledge,
3) one must be able and willing to start, change, and stop the activity or necessary parts, which is Control, and
4) one must permit others (juniors, partners, etc.) who were granted management over an activity the freedom to KRC (acquire knowledge, assume responsibility, and control), as well.
Knowledge graduates, correlates, and intractably interacts with Responsibility and Control. This intractable interactivity delivers masterpiece, inventive, innovative, and compelling leadership, management, and person.
Those of us who desire this quality of leadership and management ability must tend to the above injunctions.
Until next time, continue to strive to thrive!
Babatunde Odutola
MetroSculpters Consulting
(Pre-legal Documentation | Business Documentation | Joint Venture Advisory | PPP Advisory | Project Consulting | Corporate Structure Design & Implementation| Human Capital Enhancement Services | Revenue-Generation/Enhancement Services)