Financial Times

Grappling with too many problems, too many issues?
Resort to the ETF (Easy-Things-First) strategy-Kalapuge
By Ajith de Soysa
Aren’t we all in a race today, with too many things to do and too little time? Most of us will answer this question by saying yes, and when Dhammika Kalapuge, a Chartered Marketer and an experienced trainer, addressed young business leaders at The Sunday Times Business Club meeting last week his advice was: Use the “Easy-Things-First” (ETF) strategy.

He said nature never creates any human being without an ambition, therefore all of ‘us’ desire to win. Some say management is nothing but common sense used in an organized manner.

“When one realizes that and chooses to do the easier things first, the race that we are so used to in our day-to-day lives in our endeavour to win will be much easier and will enable us to achieve more,” he noted, speaking on ‘Motivation in Leadership’ at the Trans Asia Hotel, the host of the club.

Kalapuge, who has spoken extensively at private sector seminars and was also earlier engaged by the Presidential Secretariat and other state-sector institutions for training projects, said in today’s business environment, the relationships that ‘we build with our customers will determine the growth of our business and us as individuals.’

He said most of the time, the sale begins after one actually makes a sale. Taking the example of Joe Girard, the greatest sales man in the United States, he explained how one man got into the Guinness Book of Records, simply because he did only one thing by using his common sense and doing the “easy-things-first”.

The need to identify and recognize different talents of individuals in Sri Lanka as well as in organizations are key factors. Most of the time these valuable resources in local organizations and in the country are neglected and thus leads to issues which are difficult to deal with. We need to identify talent and encourage people to develop.

“Most of the time all of us as individuals have our sights set on goals which we are yet to reach. We think of achieving our goals by adopting the most difficult choices. But what we often forget and ignore are the choices and opportunities that are closest to us and more easily achievable,” he told an interested audience.

People are much knowledgeable today that they were ever before. They are busy with media, have access to instant information and most of all entertainment, all of which contribute to the enhanced level of knowledge that people posses today. “How do we deal with this situation? Be as honest as much as you can and invest in relationship building by using common sense and doing the “easy-things-first”,” he said.

If this simple philosophy worked for the “World’s greatest salesman”, they should work for ‘each one of us with modifications to suit our specific industries.’ The meeting was co-sponsored by Lion Brewery Ltd.

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