Question

Reply to the discussion posts in your own words:

Discussion 1

1) Are these concepts related in any way? How?

I believe they are. Strategy evaluation analyses the current state of the organization through information that has been collected regarding performance. With sharpening the saw, it too is about evaluating, and then taking that information and using it to renew ourselves in order to maintain balance in our lives. Both of these concepts have a focus on evaluation and then improving from the conclusions we come to.

2) How do you see the personal activity of "Sharpening the Saw" correlating or integrating at a personal level with the strategy evaluation stage?

I can see the personal activity of sharpening the saw correlating at a personal level with the strategy evaluation stage because depending on your own level of self renewal at the time, you may be at the strategy evaluation stage of sharpening the saw to determine if the efforts you have done thus far are effective or if you need to change something based on the way you feel. You may have gotten through the strategy evaluation stage and determined that you have worked on your mental dimension and are satisfied but you have neglected the physical dimension and need to improve. By integrating the strategy evaluation stage with the habit of sharpening the saw, you can continue to evaluate the strategy to determine if it was effective or if you have neglected a dimension and must go back and address it.

3) We believe that the evaluation stage is a critical stage in the strategic management process. Why do you think Habit 7 is critical to your personal and professional success as an individual?

I think habit 7, sharpening the saw, is highly critical for personal and professional success as an individual because we cannot perform or think clearly at our best if physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially/emotionally we are not in our best mindset. Once we can be satisfied with these four dimensions is when we can perform at our best. We have to take care of ourselves first or eventually, it will begin to show in the work we produce, our communication with others and our involvement at the office and with coworkers.

Discussion 2

1) Are these concepts related in any way? How?

In my opinion, I do feel that the two concepts are related. Strategy evaluation is an important tool with evaluating how a business has performed while "sharpening the saw" involves improving performance of the most important asset which is you. They both focus on reflecting and brainstorming on how to make either a business or an individual better in some type of way. Finding a balance in every aspect of a business or a person's life is important because it helps with stability and assists with building a more positive reputation.

2) How do you see the personal activity of "Sharpening the Saw" correlating or integrating at a personal level with the strategy evaluation stage?

The personal activity of sharpening the saw focuses on four areas of a person's life which are physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. These all can correlate at a personal level with the strategy evaluation stage because after reevaluating how things are in each area, an individual can strategize on how to improve each. Depending on the type of schedule a person has and where they are in life, these areas will constantly evolve and will always need to be reevaluated. Therefore, in a sense, strategy evaluation will always be necessary. It is a part of life. The way I look at it, the outcome of being consistent with these concepts is success.

3) We believe that the evaluation stage is a critical stage in the strategic management process. Why do you think Habit 7 is critical to your personal and professional success as an individual?

I think Habit 7 is critical to my personal success because I am constantly battling personal issues which is normal but finding the balance is what keeps my engine running. I pride myself on being happy with my relationships with the people I have in my life and being healthy so that I can be of value to others. I like to fill my agenda with productive things so I constantly work on my inner self to be able to execute these personal goals successfully. I feel the same way for my professional success. I set out a lot of goals for myself and strive to always achieve them. With this being said, I always have in the back of my mind that elevating takes proper planning and reflecting afterwards.

Answer 1

Answer:

1) Are these concepts related in any way? How?

In order to understand the correlationship between the concept of strateic evaluation and sharpening the saw we must understand the essence and purpose of each of them. Strategic evaluation helps business managers understand and evaluate the performance of business processes,projects or attainment of business objectives in terms of KPIs or critical success factors . Similarly sharpening the saw refers to the concept of evaluation of the most important resource ie "me" in terms of dimensions like self wellbeing,self renewal,self care . In both these concepts corrective actions have to be taken in case there are any variances/deviations of performance with respect to the defined critical success factors.Hence in my opinion bith the concepts are highly correlated.

2) How do you see the personal activity of "Sharpening the Saw" correlating or integrating at a personal level with the strategy evaluation stage?

Both the concepts are highly correlated.Strategy evalaution stage acts a a gatekeeper and shows the mirror to the bsuiness owner . Similarly at an individual level the concept of sharpening the saw provides the current status of self renewal,self care basis the attributes like physical, mental,spiritual,social/economical. The measure of the attributes will differ from one person to other in the same way as KPIs for strategic evaluation varies from one business process/project to other.Hence an individual is best judge of what constitutes one's self renewal,self care .Exercising sharpening the saw across these four dimensions is quintessential to groom the fiundational habits of highly skilled individuals. However there is no defined yardstick to measure what is the best way/approach to sharpen the saw. It is highly subjective and should be self evolving.The same princicples of strategy evaluation can be applied to measure the success of sharpning the saw and a feedback mechanism can be incorporated to evolve and adapt.

3) We believe that the evaluation stage is a critical stage in the strategic management process. Why do you think Habit 7 is critical to your personal and professional success as an individual?

Habit 7 is extremely critical in grooming the other foundational skillsets fo a highly skilled individual.Ignoring the importance of habit 7 may lead to loss of productivity, efficiency.As analogous to the physical attributes it is important to exercise and keep your self physically fit, in the same way habit 7 is necessary to keep you mentally,spiritually and socially/economically fit and sound. It requires perseverance ,discipline and time. Inculcating habit 7 requires an individual to strive towards a defined SMART goal(Specific, measurable, Achieveable,reliable and timely) and remain motivated and focussed.However self improvement is a continuous process and needs strategic evaluation from time to time to refect what you have achieved and what future goals you need to set to attain the utopian state of self renewal,self care.