“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.” –Wayne Gretsky.
This may be an overused quote, but it speaks volumes about why businesses, products, and careers strategies fail. I remember when ET hit the movies. As you well know, it was a monster hit. At the same time, I had a movie producer client who was intrigued in another script he had received because “it was just like ET.” I said to myself, “We already have an ET.” Well, the copycat movie was never made.
So much of strategy is based on copying what others have done successfully. That is not “strategy;” that is “similarity.” The link below tells the story of the imminent demise of the CD, and how companies are strategizing to squeeze every drop of life out of it before it succumbs to new technology. When you duplicate what others have done, you become a commodity. In the end, nothing will different you from others; just price. That is a red (full of sharks), not blue ocean strategy. To develop this blue ocean you must focus first on what you are delivering to your consumer, or business. Second, you must take a hard look at what consumers want, and what they are getting that they don’t want. This strategy will lead you to your blue ocean. Don’t let your strategy be swept away by copying others.
Hey Rick,
Good analogy. Figuring out just where that puck will be most of the time takes years of 3:30 am Saturday morning practices.
I noticed you befriended my cousin Madelyn Hoffman. She was 1/8 VP candidates in Ralph Nader’s campaign (I believe it was in one of the Bush wins).
She’s a nice girl with a steam engine of hootspa.
You’d know better than me. I’m just trying to stay on my feet and not do a face plant on the ice.