Beating the Competition

A quote from Mark Twain helps us understand our competition

"The best swordsman shouldn't fear the 2nd best: no the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn't do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him; he does the thing he ought not to do and often catches the expert out and ends him on the spot."

At work we need to concentrate on being the best, and learning from the young companies who think and act differently. The second best is watching you, but the younger companies are looking for a differentiating factor. To be a leader of a successful business make sure that you are at the head of the pack but then learn from new starters. This is also true for learning from the new managers...they might not have the experience but they do have new ideas.