Fear, and Its Vanity

It’s time to shake up the creative juices with a very short piece of historical fiction. Although I started this story as a writing exercise that requires the author to eliminate all modifiers (adjectives and adverbs), the concept evolved into a little story worth its own time and attention. That no-modifier story will be coming shortly. Until then, read about Johann:

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Smoke rose from beyond the hills, poisoning the sunset and the constancy once promised by the Italian countryside, even more so by Spezia. Far from the markets and galas of Genova, Johann thought he could afford in these acres what he could not in the city, insulation from harm. Yet it seemed he was successful at evading only the recruiters of Rome, and not the smoke he feared so dearly.

The sickness in his chest was nostalgic, yielding to the day when messengers from Marengo first brought word of invasion; that Napolean’s armies had broken the Austrian defenses, and all men of able body were to report in the ranks of Archduke John.

His parents urged Johann to follow his brothers and report immediately, but after bitter resistance he saddled the family horse and fled. With the prospect of salvation in the soil-rich hills of southern Spezia, Johann was satisfied to forget both his father’s shame and his mother’s tears.

From that day until this final one, his fevered conscience was hidden but in the care of his vineyard, which had grown tremendously in just two years of guilty toil. Yet now the flames consumed his penance, and as the burning vines crackled in the valley, the day of Johann’s cowardice dawned.

The frightening sight of well ordered Czapkas pierced the horizon, and Polish troops poured over the hills toward him, setting fresh flames upon every row of his vineyard. Sensations flushed wildly through Johann’s body, and in his last moments there surfaced a crisp revelation of fear, and its vanity.

Know Your Enemy

Therefore, I say: Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.

-SUN TZU
From The Art of War

Before we can apply the wisdom of Sun Tzu, we need to start where strategy begins, with the identification of goals. Put very simply then: Your goal is to hit targeted profits via the procurement of capital in exchange for your products or services. But this Granddaddy Goal is just the root of the entire tree of financial, marketing and operational goals that are specific to your business. From cost and revenue goals, to public relations and supply chain goals, these components makeup the final picture of what you want: targeted profits.

It’s important to keep this perspective fresh in mind before you even think about strategizing. If we attempt to strategize without clear, measurable goals in mind, we will not identify success from failure. This is critical even more so when it comes to Competitive Strategy, where pride, inferiority and personal ambition can often cloud our achievement of the final picture, which again is your total profit goal.

In other words, your personal desire to be #1 in the industry, control 90% of the market share or put your rival competitor out of business, is of no interest to your stakeholders unless doing so achieves the profits your company has targeted for the year. If you’re interested in personal conquest, go play RISK or join World of Warcraft; Business is about making money. Your competitors are such, not because they want to be #1 in the industry or put you out of business, but because they seek the same profits you need to reach your goals; this is why they are indeed your enemy. With this very healthy preface in mind, let’s move on to the value of competitive analysis.

If you’re already engaged in regular and periodic analysis of your competition, there is a good chance that your business has shifted its approach from immediate, reactionary thinking to comprehensive, proactive strategizing. When you engage in competitive analysis, you gain greater sight over the battlefield and can now calculate one of the greatest barriers to victory when making decisions.

As indicated by Sun Tzu’s statement above, knowing the enemy is only valuable to the extent you know yourself. For this reason S.W.O.T. analysis, or some variation thereof, has become a popular tool for businesses to assess themselves in light of their own resources, environment and competition. A thorough self-examination is the first step to knowing where you stand against your competition.

After performing a full S.W.O.T. analysis of your own company, the next step is to identify your top two or three competitors. Any more than this will be too overwhelming for practical changes or insights to be drawn. Next, role-play as the customer of your top competitor. If possible, try to experience every stage of their sales cycle, from awareness to post-purchase. Be sure to write down your observations as you progress through each stage. With your own company’s strengths and weaknesses fresh on your mind, new ideas and strategies will pour forth effortlessly.

Every business has constraints, but a thorough competitive analysis will help you identify where to go to battle and where to lay low. Take their strengths and improve upon them. Illuminate your strengths where they hide their weaknesses. Tout your already existing strengths and pound their weaknesses (with tact and professionalism, of course). You get the point; Knowledge of the competition can be the greatest weapon in the battle for profits.

At the same time, a smart strategist will anticipate this same kind of examination from their enemy. For this reason you must carefully guard your most distinguished secrets. If a customer seems unnaturally curious about the core elements of your product or service, be mindful of the competition. Aside from strict information barriers, there are also creative ways to frustrate the intelligence efforts of the enemy; such as leaking vague information in hopes they will use it to make an erroneous strategic decisions. And once again, be wary of this same kind of counter-intelligence in your own efforts. Only use competitive intelligence when you know that it’s sound.

Competitive Analysis is one of the most insightful and empowering steps to reaching your profit goals. Shift your thinking from the reactionary to the proactive and victory is not far behind.