"Beating the competition within the confines of the existing industry is not the way to create profitable growth." -- W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy co-authors.
At the close of last year Tom Peters shared interesting food for thought from an article in the New York Times. In this article, author Michael Lewis likens Texas Tech's football coach Mike Leach's success strategy to that of Blue Ocean Strategy. Rather than focusing on recruiting top talent, Leach recruits an average group of players and coaches them to victory using untraditional techniques.
On the offensive side of the strategy, for example, Leach's team passes the ball to many different receivers. This technique throws off the opposing team's defensive strategy by confusing them, as well as forcing them to work more of the field, thus tiring the opponent's defense more quickly. Suddenly, intimidating, 300-pound gorilla-like defensive players become irrelevant.
This reminds us of other parallels between sports and Blue Ocean Strategy. What other commonalities do you see between the world of sports and the world of business, as far as demonstrating the main principles of Blue Ocean Strategy? Share your ideas with Gabor George Burt via the email address above.
