About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
Programs:
| Receive our Free email newsletter |
Listen to article
Making Competition Irrelevant
Bob Ryan, About Purpose, Inc. ©2007
I can't keep it to myself. It's too good to hoard. What is it? It's the best business book I've read in a long time (and I read a lot of good ones). It is Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by Kim and Mauborgne from Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
Here's the gist of it. Most businesses operate in the bloody, competitive waters of a red ocean. The authors challenge us to leave those limiting waters behind and create a space in which there simply are no competitors. Sound like a dream? Well, the authors make it clear that it is not only possible, but that there are many successful Blue Ocean companies out there. Their book is full of well known examples like Cirque du Soleil, Southwest Airlines, Henry Ford and more.
Have I captured your attention? Good, but the authors don't just tease us with out-of-reach ideas that are practical for only a few superstars. Instead, they have designed a step-by-step approach to identifying blue oceans, evaluating their viability, creating an execution strategy, and assuring long-term success.
I have already begun working with two different clients using Kim and Mauborgne's suggestions and can attest to their being practical and doable. One is in an industry in which I could hardly imagine breaking any new ground, but some very good, potentially profitable ideas are beginning to emerge.
Buy and read this book. I don't care what industry you are in. This will challenge your thinking, and with some work and creativity, you too can create a Blue Ocean Strategy.
PS. Blue Ocean Strategy is available in any good bookstore, as well as at most online book sellers.
PPS. I have just begun a new series on the ethics of everyday decision making in my SWiM blog (http://www.swimstartingwithme.com/blog.html). Use it to launch discussions about ethics in your company. I would be very interested in your comments and feedback.