How to Learn from Your Competitors
 It's
a fairly obvious conception that a person should learn from
their competitors.
In terms of business, it's not only legal but perfectly
fair to lift ideas from somebody who has already done it,
and the race for new ideas is not about who implements the
idea longer or better, but rather who implements it first.
While this at least should be fairly obvious, the
problem becomes that very few people actually learn anything
from their competition.
This can be the result of several problems, but the most
common is that people tend to study their competitors for
their weaknesses rather than their strengths. They look for
exploitable chinks in the armor of their rivals rather than
common-sense approaches to improve themselves. This largely
stems from the common conceit that your competitors are
morons. I can assure you that if they are competing with you
for market share, this is not the case.
If you want your business to succeed, it's time to
stop seeing your competitors as cartoon villains with twirly
mustaches tying your profits to the train tracks with a
sinister laugh. Instead of focusing on your competitors'
flaws, concentrate instead on their bold actions, their
successful campaigns, and how they eventually won. If you
must see business in terms of war, then see if you can find
a military textbook that doesn't focus on how commanders won
victories rather than how they were defeated. We teach our
commanders how to win by examining how others have.
In order to get past the mindset that our competitors are
on some level evil and stupid, take a moment and do this
exercise. List the five smartest things your three largest
competitors have done in the last year. Don't just do this
yourself, have your managers do the same. This will help you
take a step back and assess the situation without letting
personal feelings get in the way. You can also assess why
they were smart ideas and how you can replicate or improve
on them.
Next, take some time to analyze your competitors'
organization.
What about their companies is better or more
successful than yours? The odds that your company is the
best at everything is very slim or, once again, it is
unlikely that these would be competitors. So take the time
to honestly assess what they do better than you and how they
accomplish it, then you can work on improving yourself.
Finally, try to put yourself in your competitors' shoes.
What do they think of you? How do they think you'll act
in a given situation? If you can decipher their expectations
of you, you can anticipate their next move. You can also
learn about your own flaws since it's just as likely that
your competitors have been underestimating you the same way
you have been underestimating them. Self examination is
often easier when you take the time to step away from the
rut of your habitual thinking and view yourself from another
perspective.
It's no mean feat to learn from the people who are
struggling to garner your business, but by taking the time
to see what they've done right rather than trying to find
the things they do wrong, you can co-opt those techniques,
make them your own, and sprint ahead in the race that is
business.
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