IFP Reflection Questions Instructions and Coaching, Part 2 of 4 [18 pages]

Aji’s Reflection Questions

Focuses

Aji’s Reflection Questions can be focused on increasing competitive capabilities and advantages in different ways.

These notes show how to focus Aji’s Reflection Questions on:

Part One: Use these focuses first

1. Part #1 of The Strategy

2. DMRVP

3. Part #2 of The Strategy

4. CSCS: Concerns, Situations, Capabilities and Strategies

5. The Action Package

6. Commitments

Part Two

7. Tactical Meetings: “The Tactical Pivot” (Part #5, OPNS)

8. Strategic Meetings: “The Strategic Pivot” (Part #6, IR#4 NWC)

9. Competitive Meetings: Ethics of Power (Part #4)

Part Three

10. The Spine of Business Concerns

11. The Sales Conversation

When businesspeople participate in an Aji Intention Fulfillment Program (IFP), they write responses to Aji’s Reflection Questions and then discuss what they learn and their new thinking during their meetings.

When businesspeople take The Introduction to Aji Course and The Aji Starter’s Course, they respond to Aji’s Reflection Questions for each Assignment, whether they are participating in an Aji IFP, or not.

As businesspeople learn why and how Aji works reliably and predictably, and begin to use Aji’s Reflection Questions to increase their competitive capabilities and advantages, they discover that executing The Strategy also shows them what they need to learn next,

… and why that is important tactically, strategically and competitively.

That’s why Aji IFPs use Aji’s Reflection Questions with different tactical, strategic and competitive focuses.

When businesspeople realize they need to improve their ability to execute The Aji Source Fundamental Strategy, design and execute new OPNS, or improve their Ethics of Power, Identities of TVAL&D or sales skills,

… Aji’s Reflection Questions are easily focused to help them fulfill those intentions

… easily, enjoyably and definitively.

Use the focuses below to respond to Aji’s Reflection Questions. They will help everyone build their competitive capabilities and advantages.

Pick a focus that is relevant to the paper or video you are going to read or watch to prepare for your Aji IFP Meeting.

WRITE responses to the questions before the meeting.

DISCUSS everyone’s responses and the new thinking, interpretations, intentions and commitments they make.

1. Part #1 of The Strategy:

a. Constitute Life, Financial and Business Ambitions

b. Determine income and savings gaps to bridge with Aji

c. Declare ultimate financial, career and business intentions by age 60,

… when businesspeople need enough money saved to avoid running out of it with their spouse before they are at least 90 years old

What are your Life, Financial and Business Ambitions, and why are they deeply-meaningful, satisfying (no regrets), worthwhile and enjoyable to fulfill?

Given your Ambitions, what are your ultimate financial, career and business intentions, especially your financial intentions, and how do they enable you to fulfill your Ambitions?

Do your Ambitions enable you to keep your (1) marriage vows and (2) your parenting commitments?

What are your income and savings Gaps? How are these actually Knowledge and Power Gaps?

2. DMRVP

Learn, design and explain innovations using

… Descriptions, Meanings, Relevance, Value and Purposes (DMRVP) about:

Offers, Practices, Narratives and Strategies (OPNS)

Concerns, Situations, Capabilities and Strategies (CSCS)

Each part of The Strategy

The Action Package

Design, Deconstruct, Assess and Anticipate NEW OPNS made by:

Competitors

Vendors

Colleagues

Employers

Employees

DMRVPs

What is the description of the distinction or practice you are working on in this Aji IFP Meeting:

How does it appear to people’s senses? What does it look, smell, feel, taste and sound like?

How does it trigger their psychology or moods? How does it make people feel?

How does it work or operate?

In what contexts does it appear, or not appear?

What are the meanings of the distinction or practice:

How do the new situations produced by the distinction or practice — the new OPNS’s threats, obligations and opportunities — drive NEW action into existence?

New offers, or goods and services, for example, are new competitive situations that drive customers to accept and competitors to compete.

How does the new action produced by the distinction or practice — the new OPNS they require or generate — produce NEW situations, with new threats to avoid, obligations to fulfill and opportunities to exploit?

New offers, or goods and services, are also new actions in the marketplace that create new competitive situations.

How is the distinction or practice relevant, or applicable, to fulfilling your financial, career and business intentions:

Why or how is it valuable, or:

Important Consequential?

Useful Practical, produces outcomes?

Worthwhile Worth the time, energy, money and lost opportunities to buy and use?

… and why is its value superior to your competitors’?

What are the distinction’s or practice’s tactical, strategic and competitive purposes:

Tactical to change situations to advance action, or make progress, to execute a strategy?

Strategic to execute, improve or make a new action plan possible?

Competitive to produce outcomes whose value is superior to competitors’ from the Buyer’s point of view?

How will you use the distinction or practice to execute Parts #5 – #12 of The Aji Source Fundamental Strategy to fulfill your financial, career and business intentions?

#5 – OPNS

#6 – IR#4 Networks of Capabilities

#7 – Autonomies

#8 – Accomplishments

#9 – Identities

#10 – Leadership roles

#11 – Business organizations

#12 – Anticipations of future Threats, Obligations and Opportunities

* * * * *

3. Part #2 of The Strategy: Philosophies of Care and Competition

Philosophies of Care

Human beings, marriages, finances, careers and identities, and business organizations

… are organized, or arranged, around taking satisfactory care of their fundamental “concerns”,

… and in specific ways to cope with their specific competitive situations,

… or sets of competitive threats to avoid, obligations to fulfill and opportunities to exploit.

Human beings, for example, organize their lives around taking care of four “non-discretionary concerns” even if they don’t realize it, or want to do it.

These concerns are (1) food, (2) housing, (3) medical care and (4) transportation.

They are “non-discretionary” because failing to take care of these concerns to a satisfactory standard produces pain, chronic stress, despair and suffering.

Because people live in different locations with different histories and cultures, they invent specifically different ways to:

Eat, and feed their families

House themselves and their families

Treat illnesses and accidents

Move around to get the help they need in their specific circumstances

Businesses and careers in IR#4 organize around a small set of fundamental concerns, too.

The first six fundamental concerns that exist for every career and business in IR#4, regardless of its size are:

Constitution

Strategy

Capital structures: Human capital, capital equipment, capital inventories, operating capital and financial capital

Selling

Producing new OPNS

Making profits

…or they go out of existence.

* There are 16 additional business concerns. You can read brief descriptions of all 22 on aji.com.

* * * * *

The fundamental Aji Reflection Question about Philosophies of Care is:

What human, marital, financial, career and business concerns need to be cared for, to what standard, and why,

… to fulfill businesspeople’s ultimate financial, career and business intentions?

What are people’s fundamental human concerns? (13 concerns)

… and how do you intend to fulfill your specific human concerns?

What are the fundamental marital concerns? (12 concerns)

… and how do you intend to fulfill your specific marriage concerns such as your vows and parenting commitments?

What are the fundamental financial concerns? (6 concerns)

… and how do you intend to fulfill your specific financial concerns?

4% maximum withdrawals from passively invested money

3% average inflation

8% average stock market returns

Human concerns are fixed and permanent.

Prices for “non-discretionary” goods and services — food, housing, medical care and transportation needed to survive and adapt over time — are set in the marketplace without concern for people’s abilities to pay for them.

Businesspeople and their spouses are likely to live until they are 90 years old.

What are the fundamental career, or identity, concerns?

(The Strategy’s 12 intentions)

… and how do you intend to fulfill your specific career concerns?

What are the six fundamental business concerns, or The Spine of Career and Business Concerns?

How are you taking care of each one in your career or business organization?

Are you satisfied with your current competitive capabilities to take care of each of the six?

What actions do you intend to take now to improve your competitive capabilities and advantages so that you can fulfill them tactically, strategically and competitively enough to fulfill your financial, career and business intentions?

What are the remaining 16 business concerns? (22 concerns total)

… and how do you intend to fulfill those that are relevant in your specific career and/or business organization?

(End Part 2 of 4)