Don't worry about the competition
If that's your focus, you've already lost the game.
Welcome to another Wednesday Wisdom. This is a free series - but it’s paid subscribers who make that possible. Many of the people who’ve read my work all these years don’t yet have a subscription. Hey, I get it, times are tough, you’ll get to it next time, right?!
But if you’re a regular reader, and you can afford it (and only if you can afford it), please become a paid subscriber. Your support makes this work possible, and every new paid sub makes my heart sing.
TL;DR - If you’re trying to outdo your competitors, you’ve already lost the game. Instead of competition, consider attunement, innovation… or selective ignorance.
It must be hard-going, working in recruitment or HR right now. Not only are people losing their jobs thick and fast, the best talent are leaving their jobs just as quickly.
Fed up with the corporate overhead and constraints, they’re striking out to design their own lives and work in a way that feels good. It makes me wonder what’s going on in HR departments. Switched-on employers are busy creating their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), convincing people why their workplace is the best option… compared to other workplaces.
But have they even considered that the smartest, most passionate, motivated professionals might not even want a traditional workplace anymore? I reckon the most switched on recruiters will be asking themselves a better question:
Why would anyone take this job over self-employment?
If they can reap the autonomy, freedom and rewards that come from going out on their own, your job will have to be pretty awesome to convince them to apply. It’s not other employers you’re competing with… it’s them. Employers who are focusing on their needs of their employees will know this. Everyone else has already lost the game.
It makes me wonder where else we’ve got our idea of competition all wrong.
Three alternatives to competition: ignore, attune, innovate.
For business
When Blockbuster was busy trying to compete with Video Ezy, Netflix won the game. When Nokia and Motorola were engaged in the battle of the cellphone, Apple cleaned up with the iPhone.
Netflix and Apple weren’t worried about the competition - they were too focused on the customer. They ignored what the others were doing, went deep on the thinking daily lives, goals and challenges of the people they serve - and took a risk on never before seen technologies that created an entirely new category.
For consulting
Great consultants do this too. They’re largely unconcerned with what other outfits are doing. They focus on the unmet needs and emerging priorities of their target clients, and bring their unique strengths to the table to help. They ignore the noise, attune to their clients, and innovate with solutions nobody else in the market is offering.
For personal growth
If you’re trying to be a better you, you’ll take a similar approach. I’ve just started running again, and if I compared my laggard’s pace to anyone else, I’d stop before I started. Competition is a waste of time for me - I need to attune to my own needs, body and pace, and ignore what everyone else is doing.
When I started my business, nobody I knew had done it before. To get somewhere, I had to ignore the naysayers, and attune to the people I was trying to help. If you’re studying, starting at the gym, or taking up a new hobby, you might need to use some of these strategies too.
How to choose your approach
If you’re living in fear and fighting for scraps: compete.
If you’re trying to make a difference to others: attune.
If you want to change the game: innovate.
If you’re taking risks other people won’t understand: ignore.
What are your goals, and how much attention should you be paying to the competition?
Til next week.
A
This is a Wednesday Wisdom post - which I publish every week for free - so please share this post widely and encourage your friends, peers and colleagues to subscribe too.
This is an entirely reader-supported publication, so if you you enjoy what I write, please consider upgrading to paid! These posts take lots of time every week. I love writing for you - but it’s the paid subscribers who keep Wednesday Wisdom free for everyone.