competition
166 posts
Like The Weather
Often the thing we can’t control distracts us to the point of getting in the way of the things we can affect and change.
The One And Only
Competing is a zero-sum game. We succeed when we make peace with the fact that we don’t need to compete when we know who we are.
Who Do You Want To Be To Whom?
The key question for all of us, no matter what business we’re in, is who do we want to be to whom? When we lose sight of who we’re in business to serve, and why we lose more than our competitive advantage. We lose the heart and soul of our business.
How Obstacles Create Value
The better we understand the obstacle, the better we get at solving the problem. And the better we can describe the obstacle, the better we become at selling the solution.
A Word About Product Market Fit
Successful businesses do great work for good customers.
What Can You Learn From Your Competitors?
What’s the story your competitor doesn’t want to tell?
Sweeping The Floor
One of my first jobs was in the hospitality industry. We worked long hours, weekends and holidays for average pay. Staff turnover was high. It was hard for managers to motivate people. One of our best managers didn’t bark orders about smiling at customers or showing up on time. She led by example. T
Easy Does It
Our expectations about the quality of products have increased exponentially with our ability to perfect the things we produce. When quality improves our tolerance for mistakes plummets. Interestingly, the same isn’t true for human interactions. Even though digital technology has enabled degrees of e
The Assumptions Checklist
Our decisions are rarely based on objective information. And even when we do have ‘good data’, it’s coloured by why, who and how it’s collected. Often our decisions are based on assumptions. We accept something as true, without proof. We make many of these assumptions with a scarcity mindset. We kil
How Much Runway Do You Need?
An aircraft must reach sufficient speed to take off. The pilot needs enough runway to achieve that optimum speed. The same is true of our projects and ideas. Velocity alone is not enough to make an idea fly. Ideas also need time. We often focus our energy on gathering speed and creating momentum, wh
Be Ambitious
In our culture ambition is both celebrated and frowned upon—not always in equal measure. Ambition is encouraged and rewarded, but only to a point. Perhaps it’s not ambition itself that’s the problem, but rather, our narrow definition of it? We aspire mostly to the ambition of accumulation. We want t
Design For The Outcome You Want
When a once beloved brand under new management, repeatedly relies on flash sales and deep discounts to boost sales, it’s obvious that the organisation’s goal is to massage the numbers on the next quarter’s balance sheet. The leadership team are designing the business for the outcome they want—short-
A Deliberate Advantage
Voting is compulsory here in Australia. To make it easier for people polling places now open the weekend before election day. Early voting in our state and local council elections opened last weekend. As we lined up at the entrance to the polling place we were met by representatives of all candidate
One Of The Few
Few organisations look past the data to see the humanity of the client behind the numbers. Few companies act as if it’s a privilege to serve their customers. Few people take time to listen twice as much as they speak. Few products are made with love. In a world where we are doing our best…
The Big Bang Is Overrated
When we imagine our ideal product launch we picture attention, applause and armies of customers beating a path to our door. Successful companies hardly ever launch with a big bang. Most hits begin with the slow and steady iteration of a product or service that’s improved by getting it in front of, a
A Matter Of Marketing
We live in an age when it’s easier than ever to get your message in front of people. Many businesses have a strategy for getting their message seen and heard—far fewer have a plan for being believed and understood. It’s one thing to get in front of people, and another for them to choose to…
Keep Your Eye On The Ball
It was hard not to get swept up by the Serena Williams, US Open final story this week. It was difficult to avoid joining the debate about how it could all have played out differently if only this had been said or that had been done. That time spent thinking about what should have been…
The Art Of Differentiation
One day you will find a design you laboured over, taken and copied or several lines of copy you crafted, used and unattributed. And you will rant and rave until you realise, that there are things you can say and do that can’t be copied because those things are only true for you. We spend…
The Extra Mile
In a challenging marketplace, it’s tempting to compete on value by aligning with what other businesses do. The companies that will win and keep customers in the future are the ones who do the things their competitors won’t do. It’s easier to keep step than it is to go the extra mile. That’s why it’s
Better Bridges
The design and layout of a department store are deliberate. The sum of a thousand decisions, choices made to optimise the customer experience and maximise profit. Cosmetics on the ground floor, furniture on the top. The fewer people shopping for big-ticket items invest time ascending six floors. You
