© 2019 All Rights Reserved
© 2019 All Rights Reserved
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About Cookies OKWhat is Competitive Intelligence
This is an extract from a lecture we gave to MBAs, business school students & graduates at the University of Westminster in London. Watch for a taste or click here for the full lecture.
Contact us if you would also like us to talk to your employees or students on any aspect of competitive or marketing intelligence.
Businesses (and people) over time develop habits and patterns of working. Sometimes these lead to success. However often they stop management from seeing reality – especially when the business environment changes. Competitive intelligence can identify these business blindspots – both in the company itself, and in its competitors. Taking advantage of competitor blindspots is a major way that a company can beat its competitors, so it is crucial to understand one’s own blindspots so as to protect oneself from possible attack.
Business problems can be shown through humour. Humour allows businesses to take a step back and see a problem applied to a situation that appears different to their own. One can also sometimes see similar behaviour in one’s own organisation – thus highlighting a possible blindspot. Humour is just one technique for showing blindspots. Others include the use of drama workshops and story-telling, or war-gaming where the business environment is modelled and management try and take an external look at themselves and their competitive situation.
The following “stories” and office “theories” are taken from our humour database – with a random selection shown. Refresh the page for further examples.
Linda and Marion were comparing notes on the difficulties of running a small business.
I started a new practice last year. I insist that each of my employees take at least a week off every three months. Linda said.
Why in the world would you do that?" Marion asked.
It's the best way I know of to learn which ones I can do without!, Linda replied.
A standard phrase heard all the time is I assume that....
This often really means I haven't a clue but I am guessing that....
It's OK when you get it right, but not when you get it wrong.
A golden rule before "assuming anything" is to think of the letters that make up the word assume. Whenever you make an assumption and get it wrong - you will have made an Ass of u and me.
Another way of looking at assumptions is to take a different perspective. Mao Zedung (Mao Tse Tung) is reputed to have said: We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.
By having too narrow a viewpoint on your industry or overall business environment can mean missing opportunities because you only see the immediate industry or geographic location, when there could be new opportunities slightly further away or in related industries, or ignoring threats that only become obvious when they start to damage your business (and are then much harder to protect against).
Businesses (and people) over time develop habits and patterns of working. Sometimes these lead to success. However often they stop management from seeing reality – especially when the business environment changes. Competitive intelligence can identify these business blindspots – both in the company itself, and in its competitors. Taking advantage of competitor blindspots is a major way that a company can beat its competitors, so it is crucial to understand one’s own blindspots so as to protect oneself from possible attack.
Business problems can be shown through humour. Humour allows businesses to take a step back and see a problem applied to a situation that appears different to their own. One can also sometimes see similar behaviour in one’s own organisation – thus highlighting a possible blindspot. Humour is just one technique for showing blindspots. Others include the use of drama workshops and story-telling, or war-gaming where the business environment is modelled and management try and take an external look at themselves and their competitive situation.
The following “stories” and office “theories” are taken from our humour database – with a random selection shown. Refresh the page for further examples.
Before offering somebody a new job it's always worth seeking recommendations from previous employers. The problem is that writing something derogatory could mean you get sued if the candidate finds out (and they may - or can ask to see references under data protection rules) - unless of course you can fully justify the comments. To get around this, there are ways to say something positive about somebody which can also be read as negative. It's up to the new employer to interpret - but many recognise the codes.
| What they say
|
What they really mean
|
|---|---|
| In my opinion, you will be very fortunate to get this person to work for you. | This person is extremely lazy and never does any proper work. |
| I most enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no qualifications whatsoever. | This person is totally inept and probably has lied about their qualifications as we saw no evidence they had actually achieved what they claimed. |
| I am pleased to say this candidate is a former colleague / employee of mine. | I'm glad the candidate is "former" as we really didn't get along and I was glad when they left. |
| I can assure that no person would be better for the job. | Do you really plan on employing this person? Leaving the position vacant would be a better option. |
| I would urge you to waste no time in making this candidate an offer of employment. | Do NOT consider this candidate. Doing so is a complete waste of time. |
| All in all, I cannot say enough good things about this candidate or recommend him/her too highly. | I'm finding it really hard to find good things about this candidate. |
