They say he who is an expert with the hammer thinks everything is a nail. Likewise, people who are experts in any aspect of running a business, be it operations, human capital, manufacturing, strategy, or product development, tend to think their expertise is the foolproof path to organizational success or, worse, the only way to salvage their struggling organization.
There’s nothing strategic about purely relying on one’s expertise versus one’s market positioning. You can be the best at what you do, but if everything boils down to margins, price, and comparisons, the whole point is moot. Instead of obsessing over expertise, individuals, teams, and organizations have a lot to gain by focusing on better positioning, which can lead to better clients, stronger competition, and greater long-term growth.
The challenge is that our egos take a hit when we face the reality that merely relying on our expertise and experience won’t make things better.
An obsession with efficiency and economies of scale can be detrimental to an organization’s very existence. Thankfully, leaders have the option not to run this race to the bottom and instead invest their time and energy in better positioning, which is infinitely more profitable than doing things faster, cheaper, and worse.
Of course, all of this isn’t new — business historians and management thinkers alike have been studying industries, trends, and patterns for ages now, and they’ve known it all along that strategic positioning is the key to organizational success, especially in an industry with stiff competition. The big question is: why can’t positioning be the first thing leaders solve before operational efficiency?
Part of the answer lies in something we consistently overlook — industry knowledge. We rarely go beyond cursory knowledge and question why we’re doing what we’re doing. Nor do we pause to reflect on the option to stop and reevaluate whether the race we’re competing in is even worth it.