Strategy. A concept that transcends almost all facets of life. Broadly defined as: a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim, its application in everyday life manifest itself in a variety of ways. I endeavor to touch upon two of them: business and sport.
Strategies in business and sport share many similarities in terms of their application and purpose. The fundamental goal of a strategy is to elevate you, whether your company or team, to a common end-goal. In order propel yourself towards your goal you must think and act uniquely. As Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business Review says: “competitive advantage is about being different”. Obviously, a competitive advantage for a business would differ from a competitive advantage for a sports team, but it’s the process behind the strategy that rings true for both. Southwest Airlines are an example of a business who have effectively created a competitive advantage for themselves. Through cheap, convenient and domestic flights they were able to isolate a niche of the market that consisted mostly of business travellers and students. Alternately, as I play field hockey for Canada (a team that is currently ranked no. 11 in the world) we have to adapt our playing style to a more work-ethic oriented style because we lack the skills of the top 10 teams. This playing style frustrates better teams, as it is unfamiliar to them. That is our advantage.
However, as we learned from the Transient Advantage model by Rita McGrath, these competitive advantages are momentary. In the context of field hockey, this is displayed by teams who utilise our hard-work based strategy when playing higher ranked teams, as they’ve seen it work for us. This puts teams and companies in a predicament: do we keep our old strategy as it worked in the past or do we innovate and find a new competitive strategy? McGrath is adamant that ‘business is stuck’ trying to find a permanent competitive advantage, and that for the most part a competitive advantage has completely eroded after 5 years. The erosion of competitive advantages is applicable to both sport and business.
Strategies are essential to both a good business and a good team. But a good leader will understand that a strategy is not infallible. They must innovate and advance their strategy so it doesn’t become stale within a competitive environment.
Word Count: 396
References:
https://courses.library.ubc.ca/studenthome/id/88322/open/72552 (Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, What is Strategy?)
https://courses.library.ubc.ca/studenthome/id/88322/open/72560 (Rita McGrath, Harvard Business Publishing, Transient Advantage)
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/strategy