Have you ever looked up to someone and then discovered they're not all you thought them to be? It happens. People are imperfect by design. That's also their beauty. I mention this because...
....it relates to the subject of gurus of all kinds. All disciplines have their gurus. From the arts, religion, science to business, there's a popular expert ready to share their font of knowledge.
In my early uni days I was a bit taken by management guru Michael Porter. What was not to like about his Competitive Strategy model? Seemed clear and rational. Better than that, I wasn't alone, academics and big business were happy to buy into the thinking and back their fascination with cold hard cash.
Now fast forward decades later and I discover this competitive strategy isn't really how things work. Now it didn't take a guru to point that out to me. It came from natural curiosity and questioning of all things that I previously thought to be 'fact'. Did you know that Michael Porter's own consultancy the Monitor Group went into bankruptcy in 2012? Their own strategy wasn't up to scratch. We're not here to compete but connect. If you're competing you haven't found your edge or your point of difference. It means you haven't taken the time to discover your highest value.
Now this piece isn't to bag out a strategy gone wrong or simply point a finger at a bad mistake. Did I mention we are all imperfect by design? What I'm keen to highlight is that a strategy based on a competitive position of 'I win, you lose' is based on limited thinking. Limited thinking is restrictive and restrictive is the opposite of growth. Actually, the opposite of a growth mindset. Success on any level comes from growing. In a business sense it follows that you are there to serve your customer. Porter argued that you are there to focus on your competition. Wrong target. When you choose the wrong target you miss. It's not game over though. It just means you have to broaden your thinking and approach.
