On Competitive Focus

So much management time in organisations is wasted analysing what the competition are doing. Competitive positioning and strategies are important of-course, but I often think that one of the downsides of an over-enthusiastic focus on responding to what others are doing in your market is that you forget to be awesome yourself. So in that context this quote from Larry Page, taken from this rare but informative interview, is illuminating:

"Obviously we think about competition to some extent. But I feel my job is mostly getting people not to think about our competition. In general I think there's a tendency for people to think about the things that exist. Our job is to think of the thing you haven't thought of yet that you really need."

Comments

[Dianne Parrish]

Yes, it is a case of everything in moderation, but knowing the competition helps to define a brand differential. This is especially important when an organisation decides to take a new step towards innovation, expansion or acquisition.