This was originally shared in the Forum – I am moving it to the mainboard.

When favor comes in your life, expect a huge burden associated with that favor. A young lady was informed she would “carry” the Messiah. That was a favor every young lady of her era had wished. But do not ignore the huge burden associated with it.

In the Bible, the Annunciation is narrated in Luke 1:26–38:^[5]

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

In families and careers, favors come with burdens. The challenge comes when you expect favors without the burdens associated with them. Out of all the entry level staff, the CEO had asked you to work with him. That is a favor but never miss the huge burden as your performance is no more filtered.

To be a grown-up, not just a grown-old, you must understand the Burden of Favors.

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

The same young lady carrying the Messiah couldn’t even get an accommodation in a one star hotel, let alone five star; even during the Child’s presentation in the Temple, the prophecy given to the lady wasn’t a sweet one, but they all add up.

It is ridiculous to yearn for testimony without a test, something has to give in, else what you hope to reap becomes fraudulent. So when men and women are genuflecting and prostrating before you, just know that there’s a huge burden that goes with it; you must live up to that.

Same goes for answering ‘His Excellency’, with all the subsequent long titles that follow it, especially for a president, that’s the amount of burden you are meant to carry. So when citizens blame you for their misfortunes or lack of success, they all add up, you do not need to be agitated or angry; that’s part of why you are ‘His Excellency’. Even a man whose car refuses to start could still blame you.

Again, if you are wealthy and keep whining on why people cannot allow you to enjoy your wealth, for asking for help, well, you can as well become poor, let’s see how many people that would disturb you. Even nations that are favoured have a burden too, no one is queuing up to emigrate to Somalia or Afghanistan.

On Indomie Noodles Strategy, a LinkedIn user connected it to one of the core strategies I have formulated – the One Oasis Strategy: “[One] Oasis strategy successfully executed by Dufil  Prima foods in the Nigeria doddle market. Thank you for the Insight”.

For competitiveness, a company can allocate resources to support its best product (the oasis), providing a pipeline where other internal products can feed from the success of that best product. Simply, in some sectors, if you build your investment around the best product, you will find success, because those investments will have a clear internal “customer”, reducing market risks. In other words, if your new investments are geared to support the best product, and the best product is doing well, it implies the risks on the new investments will be easily managed. Provided the best product continues to flourish, good return on the new investment is assured (i.e. the customer exists, irrespective of the external market). That is the One Oasis Strategy.

[…]

In the One Oasis Strategy, the key element is to align business innovation to favour the best
product in the company on utility, value and cost which over time would help the firm
compete better externally. It is firstly an inward looking management system, and offers a
firm an opportunity to test strategies, models, business systems and production processes,
perfecting them before they are launched for outside customers. Yes, with one oasis, a firm
refines its process, technology and product, positioning it for success.

Amazon has ecommerce (the oasis) and invested on Amazon Cloud (AWS), making sure that AWS was initially focused to make ecommerce better. Dufil has Indomie noodles (the oasis), and everything has been done to make it better. I do think over time some of the elements (in Dufil) which are supporting the oasis will emerge as independent products like Amazon Cloud.

You can read the One Oasis Strategy here (pdf).

by Demi Oye

Fighting change is like fighting the wave of tides. This situation is how it seemed about five years ago when tech was changing the world rapidly (well, it still is today).  Since it was good, there was no reason to fight it anymore. Who doesn’t enjoy being able to see the face of a loved one at a far end of the world with their smartphone? Who doesn’t enjoy being able to call up a car to pick them with their smartphones?

Again, change came and fighting it off wasn’t an option. Tech evolved over and over, and it began to feel confusing. From new phones to new apps, to several new gadgets, users couldn’t get just enough. It was nice to have a wide range of choices is cool, but the brands became somewhat confusing.

Brace yourselves; it’s going to get even more confusing, as tech companies are in constant competition. This article would teach you how to adapt and thrive in the next tech invasion, as you cannot run from it. It’s coming pretty soon, so the earlier you get informed on how best to embrace it, the better.

In the next tech invasion, buying devices or subscribing to tech might be a lot complicated than buying from a brand because it is known. As tech is evolving, the industry is becoming ungovernable and users must guard themselves.

Tips to help users adapt and thrive in the next tech invasion

Sticking to renowned brands vs. Going for the new ones

While this is a tip, it’s also a way to have users get their thinking caps on. Initially, the simple advice was to stick to well-known names; “Get your devices from Apple,” “services from Google are the best” and “Amazon is a name you can trust.” That advice could be boldly given some four to five years back, as you could get the best of these brands.

However, things have changed today, and even the government of the United States can hardly control the activities of these companies. This situation makes it dicey to bank on them. Since they are uncontrollable (and it would get worse with the next tech invasion), users want to avoid a brand that takes advantage of them.  While this is not an attempt to speak negatively of any company, it’s a call for users to watch out.

Look past the brand name

The first thing many users do is look at the gadget/product. For a phone, they look at the camera, the battery life and maybe the operating system. With the next tech invasion, there’s more to look out for. Look at the business model.  Gadgets, especially phones have become ubiquitous, and almost anything works for starters. This situation leaves users confused on the choices to make, and it’s about to get worse. It’s time to look past the products and look out for things that last like the ethics, business model, message, morals, and branding of the company. If you want to figure out a brand that carries dangers in this new age, you better look out for its trade.

Do not sell your “user’s choice” to the giants

Over the years, it’s been the same set of famous companies ruling the tech world. The known names have been Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. It hasn’t changed all these years, and it is likely to remain with the next tech invasion. The fact that their stocks keep rising makes the voice of the consumer unheard and the industry uncurbed by the government.

The choice is that of every consumer now because tech companies are indispensable. A strategy to cope with the next tech invasion is to prevent these companies from taking advantage of you in subtle ways. Whenever you get a chance to avoid the giants, do so. Do not stick to a brand because its big; weigh its pros and cons. An example would be choosing Spotify over Apple Music. Spotify does better than Apple Music on every front. However, some users would stick to Apple Music (just because it’s from Apple). With the next tech invasion, consumers have to help spread the wealth even to smaller companies that give good value for money. There are several other examples, which include the use of Dropbox and not merely Google or Apple. 

Conclusion

Here’s the deal; before you adopt a brand for any reason, ensure you slow down and think. The government cannot seem to curb the excesses in the tech industry, but users can. No matter what happens, don’t jump at innovations, they could come back at you. Dear user, the message is clear; take it slow.