THERE’S BEEN A SEISMIC SHIFT IN THE VIBE
01.30.24 | JENIFER DESOFI
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE WILL BE?
There is a direct correlation between how well companies understand the zeitgeist of their marketplace and the strength of their results. Competitive advantage is hard to get and easy to lose, but the way to capture it and win in the marketplace is by successfully harnessing data, getting diverse perspectives, and evolving to meet changing conditions. To paraphrase Charles Darwin, it’s not the strongest of the species that survive; it’s the most adaptable.
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to steward some of the world's most beloved and iconic brands and have had a front-row seat to what it means to win through a well-established competitive advantage informed by distinct and different viewpoints. I have also seen what can happen when organizations rest on their laurels and do things “the way they’ve always been done.”
Where I experienced true breakthroughs and market-leading results, they came from an acceptance that the old approach wasn’t enough, a focus on purposeful investment in future potential, and a proactive incorporation of fresh perspectives—even when they were uncomfortable or hard to confront.
Perspective can be defined in two ways:
A point of view or vantage point
As it’s used in creative executions to describe how to translate the 3D world into a 2D environment mathematically
Perspective is quite literally where art meets science, and the best strategies skillfully combine the correct ratio of the two. It is also naturally varied, influenced by individual beliefs, education, family, culture, lived experiences, gender, and ethnic background. Positioning your business for future success requires strategically harnessing the benefits of perspective.
There are many ways to capture perspectives, including more traditional avenues such as cultural and consumer engagements (e.g., diverse hiring, employee feedback, continuous learning, consumer research, competitive analysis, consumer co-creation), and engagement with traditional consultancy firms that offer large-scale, project-based partnerships to optimize business performance.
There are also less traditional options that offer fresh and innovative approaches that allow you to tap into industry expertise… enter THE BOARD, a vetted community of unbiased, seasoned experts. A Dream Team from THE BOARD offers insight from road-tested executives with experience in multiple industries and disciplines who have sat at leadership tables building and deploying strategies, seeing first-hand what worked and didn’t. THE BOARD can be the key to unlocking your competitive advantage by bringing the perspective you need to gain a winning edge! Through things like THE BOARD AUDIT, we can help companies get unstuck, create a roadmap, and execute solutions.
Let’s face it: this vibe shift is a pesky little instigator.
Some people may see this shift as an annoyance they want to get rid of, like a mosquito buzzing in their ear—they just want it to go away so they can return to the way things used to be.
Other people, myself (and THE BOARD) included, realize this is a profound opportunity to shape our new reality. Those who lean into it by leveraging the right resources will accelerate out of it ahead of the pack, with a competitive edge and a playbook on how to continue winning even when everything has shifted – the future zeitgeist will be driven by those who harness the art and science of perspective to create exponential opportunity!
#competitiveadvantage #consultancy #adapt
