The Power of Rivalry

Great Rivalries

It was Friday, October 4, 1957. News leaked rapidly that the Soviet Union had successfully launched a satellite into low earth orbit. It was now official. The Soviet Union was ahead of the United States in the drive to be the first to enter space. Occurring close to the height of the Cold War the reaction in the US was near panic. Repeatedly told that the US Vanguard program was far ahead of the Soviets, the American public was caught totally off guard. What followed was the election of President John F. Kennedy and his bold statement that America would send a man to the moon and bring him back safely. This speech ignited the start of what became known as the Space Race and resulted in some of the most innovative and commercially useful technologies ever produced in the United States, all in the span of less than ten years. And as we all know, we did land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in a time long before hand held calculators and personal computers.

Robert Kennedy had been tracking the illegal activities of Jimmy Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters Union for years. He was determined to bring Hoffa to justice when he was installed as Attorney General under his brother Jack. Hoffa's office at the Teamsters Union was located in Washington D.C. approximately two blocks from the Attorney Generals office. Often when Bobby Kennedy would be heading home late at night he would see the light on in Hoffa's office. He would then immediately turn around and go back to his office and resume his investigation of Hoffa. "If Hoffa was working late committing his crimes then I can work equally late for the American people to stop him", Bobby remarked. Jimmy Hoffa was convicted in 1964 of jury tampering, attempted bribery and fraud in 1964 and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Sports and Business

It is well known that NASCAR drivers like to pace behind and "draft" off a lead car right up until the last lap of the race. Then they make their move to pass the lead car and grab the checkered flag. Distance runners do the same thing. They like to pace behind a top competitor through the majority of the race and then in a burst of adrenal acceleration they attempt to slingshot past and cross the finish line first. It is well documented that when two top contenders in any sport attempt to pace off each other they often match or beat their individual best performances often resulting in new world records.

It is similar in the field of business. Microsoft and Apple battled it out for years. During their rivalry both companies had a string of incredibly innovative product development launches. On the hardware side Intel and AMD were arch rivals for decades. Again, both companies not only dramatically drove their own technology and product development roadmaps but the resultant exponential increase in processing power drove the entire PC and server industry. The ultimate winner of both of these rivalries was the customer who benefitted from ever cheaper and higher performing computing power. Hertz vs. Avis. Remember "We try harder"? Ford vs. General Motors. You get the idea.

The Exponential Power of Rivalry

So what can the power of rivalry do for your company?

• A Healthy Paranoia - When a top competitor is hot on your heels or you're on his you get a constant healthy dose of paranoia. You know at all times that if you slow down or screw up your competitor is literally ready to pass you, maybe forever. When you race without a rival you automatically default to your comfort pace. That is why athletes rarely set records in this situation. Your competitor literally makes you better. It works the same with companies.
  
  
• Make It Personal - Bobby Kennedy made it personal. When I ran my last company I had a frame hanging on my office wall right in front of my desk. In it was my top competitor's logo, a portrait of their CEO, and a picture of their latest competing product. I respected the CEO in that frame but I wanted to beat him and his company. I studied his strategies and tactical moves and listened to his quarterly investor telecons to better understand his thought processes and weaknesses. Often when I was tired, especially after a flight back from the Far East, I would start packing, look at that picture, and sit back down with renewed vigor. I made him make me a better leader. I paced off him.
  
  
• Stop Hiding Behind The Company - Have each department of your company engage in a rivalry with your top competitors corresponding department. When I ran a product development group I researched the development group of our key competitor. I educated everyone in our group about our rival groups strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments. We did not control the company we worked for but we did control our product development group. We challenged each other to develop faster, better, and cheaper products than our rivals. In short, we did not let the product development group work in a R&D bunker within our company but we competed on an open field against our rival group. The results were amazing. Because we were now competing against a rival group in a similar profession it became personal. We were not going to lose. So don't just review project schedules and marketing plans. Instead, have your managers give you a competitive assessment of how their departments are performing relative to their rivals. Most importantly, do the same for yourself, publicly.
  
  
• Being The Best Is The Most Dangerous Position - One of the reasons I believe that the United States is going through such difficult times is that we no longer have a Soviet Union to focus our attention on and drive our efforts. We lack a comprehensive rival. The same holds true for companies. Most companies (and countries) begin their descent shortly after attaining dominant stature. Lacking a top competitor to pace them they default to their comfort pace which naturally decays over time. By the time they realize what has happened it is often too late. This has occurred from Rome, through Spain, France, and Britain over the centuries. All were at one time global superpowers. When you achieve a dominant market position it is imperative to retain a healthy paranoia and "reverse" draft off your closest rival.

Far too many leaders and managers today hide behind their company's identity and size and allow themselves to toil away in anonymous isolation. There is a security in this but there is no enjoyment or sense of accomplishment for them or their employees. So I challenge you to step out from behind the curtain and onto an open playing field with your toughest rival. Make it personal and make it public so it will hurt if you lose. You will be surprised at your true capability (and your company's) under these circumstances.

Bill Gately
Principal - The Rockland Group, Inc.
(781)-710-4064
bill.gately@rockland-group.com