Fear of competition? Courage, run away… and innovate!

I’ve never been a fan of competition. I played sports, and I still do, but I’m not the one fighting for the podium. mI boxed when I was young. Of course, it doesn’t show in my physique. There are two types of boxers: brawlers and technicians. I have always favored technique. Take the fewest punches, box cleanly and manage my space in the ring.

Prepared this way, I wasn’t afraid of my opponent… most of the time. Well, ok, it happened, but let’s get back to our topic!

Do we really have to fight?

Are you afraid of your competitors?

So don’t compete. Create!

If you think you have to fight to get a better job or grow your business, you’re wrong.

The idea of ​​competition is engraved in our minds. It is instilled in us by the school and its system of «first in the class”.

Sports activities also contribute to this. Competition has been raging since our childhood. Are we programmed to be in perpetual rivalry?

We think we have to compete with other candidates for a job. Therefore, if someone has a position in a company, it means that you cannot have it if you do not take his place.

And if a company is located in a particular industry, it means you have to compete with that company to “capture” some of its market share.

In any case, this is how we are educated and advised from an early age.

This is also what we learn in business school, isn’t it? Much of the training is based on competition with other companies. And almost every marketing and business book I’ve read is based on battling the competition.

But is competition always necessary? Are there no other patterns, other postures to adopt?

Because when you only think about competing with other companies or other people for money, jobs, or attention, you are engaged in limited thinking: me versus others.

The Blue Ocean Strategy

Instead, let’s try to imagine our market (whether it’s your business or the job market) as something bigger. In the same way that in the ring, I manage the space around me so as not to find myself trapped between the ropes, you have to find your place against the competition.

W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne developed the Blue Ocean Strategy. This consists of developing a new strategic space within the established competition.

“In their book, The Blue Ocean Strategy, the authors explain that the high growth and high profits a company can generate are achieved by creating new demand in an uncontested strategic space, or Blue Ocean, rather than by competing with existing suppliers for existing customers in an existing business.” Wikipedia.

We seek to create new demand by developing a highly targeted niche within our industry or a product or service innovation. In this Blue Ocean, the company will evolve without competitive war because it is the only one evolving there.

For example, a few years ago 3 game consoles were released in the same time period. Sony and Microsoft introduced the PS3 and Xbox 360. These two consoles focused on power and graphics performance. Nintendo released the Wii.

Devoid of any graphical interest (the console is not even HD), Nintendo focuses everything on ease of use and family gaming and wins the day. It wasn’t the best console. Far from it. However, Nintendo managed to create its own Blue Ocean, its own space without competition thanks to the innovation of the Wii.

Innovate, create, invent!

You need to get rid of the thought of competition. We need to create, not compete with what exists. So you don’t have to take anything away from anyone.

The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is believing that supply is limited, that the playing field is narrow, that the fight only happens in the ring.

This is sometimes true, but it is not always the case. And even if it were, it is harmful to adopt this mentality.

I think most people, entrepreneurs and those who have jobs, are afraid of being beaten.

It is not true?

We fear losing our customers, our business, our contracts, our visibility and being dispossessed of everything we have worked so hard for.

That’s the problem. Fear breeds fear. When you’re afraid of not growing up, what happens? Exactly. You’re not growing!

Life is abundant

You must believe that we live in a world of abundance and opportunity. There are enough opportunities and riches for most of us.

Certainly, due to our birth, our place of life, our studies, our personality and a series of more or less fluctuating parameters, we have a more or less long path towards success, dotted with more or less battles, failures and victories.

Be determined, never believe that you will not succeed. This thought will never make you grow.

If you can’t find the right job, create it. If life hasn’t given you much luck, create opportunities. If you don’t trust yourself because you have no qualifications, start trusting yourself personally. Don’t ask permission!

Life is not easy. It’s a fact. And it’s not easy to find a job that fully satisfies you, mentally and financially. I know millions of people face this challenge. But I also know that many people limit themselves by thinking that they can’t create their own career.

Just as I believe that entrepreneurs and businesses should create their own market, I also believe that individuals should create their own careers.

Besides applying for jobs or going to work every day, what do you do to make your career different? What means are you implementing to make tomorrow different from today? What investments have you made that will allow you to change your life?

Personal branding is one of the key elements to regain control of a career that is ending. Communicate who you are, intelligently, provide solutions to businesses and make yourself indispensable.

Don’t hesitate to find new ideas. A few years ago, hiring a community manager, a guy paid to power social networks, seemed totally absurd.

And what about Chief Happiness Officers? The first one who stood up and said: «I propose to invest myself in the company to make all your employees happy” he was pretty convinced of his case, wasn’t he?

The world of work had not undergone such significant transformations since the industrial revolution. Positions change, new opportunities are created every day.

According to a study organized by Dell and the “Institute for the Future”, we find that 85% of the jobs of 2030 do not even exist today. Digital technology and robotization, which will be more efficient than humans even in many intellectual tasks, are causing the progressive obsolescence of entire groups of professions.

We are currently entering the second phase of digital development. The coming years will lead to the advent of true cognitive intelligence, capable of imagining solutions and interpreting data, even imperfect ones, as humans currently do.

So those who smile when you try to develop your position may be the ones who cry in a few years.

If you believe in something and can create value, go for it. There are always people who will tell you that:

• no one needs your proposal,
• that your job means nothing,
• that you are wasting your time.

Don’t listen to those who oppose. Let them drown in the chains of their own beliefs. Instead, do this:

Create. Create. Create.

There are enough opportunities for everyone. Better yet, there are many possibilities because most people don’t know how to take them.

If you dream of a specific career, get up and create it. The same goes for your business. Don’t focus on limited resources, people treating you badly, or anything else that might come to mind and convince you to stay in your routine.

If you are convinced, adopt an abundance mindset. Only stop when you have so many opportunities that you don’t know what to do with them.

And the abundance of choice, believe me, is the only problem you will want to have in the coming years.