Beyond competing: Creating your Personal Blue Ocean
I once had this new colleague. Let’s call him Philip. Philip was a charming guy with a lot of experience as a Software Engineer. He had co-founded his own company and was welcomed warmly in his new position.
After his first week and a lot of excitement I lost sight of him and didn’t really keep track. But after six months he reappeared.
Not only had he established himself as the go-to person for high priority projects at the company, he had also launched his own podcast and appeared to walk into the office of our C-level as he wished.
I felt how the anger was tightening my throat.
How was that possible? How did he get into this position so fast and I was still working my ass off here? I felt like I was drowning.
Red Oceans vs. Blue Oceans
A Red Ocean comes from the world of business strategy and describes a market situation in which companies compete so severely on the same objectives and products that the ocean essentially turned ‘bloody’ red (hello sharks). Everyone is fighting for survival and tries to outcompete the others by doing more of the same.
And yet, Philip didn’t seem to compete with anyone. It was as if he was swimming comfortably in a Blue Ocean with an inflatable island in it, in which he could rest and record another podcast episode.
A Blue Ocean is the opposite. It’s when companies find (or better: create) new market space unlike anything ever seen before. It’s no longer about competing with “more of the same” but rather a distinguished set of characteristics, uniquely tailored to a customer. Think of the time when the first iPods came out. Before I had these ridiculous MP3-USB sticks with tiny monochrome displays and tricky to navigate menus. And then the iPod. 1000 songs in your pocket.
Just like Apple, Philip had created his Blue Ocean.
Blue Ocean Strategy
The same way Blue Oceans get created in the world of business, they can be created in our own lives. We simply have to transfer the logic.
One tool to do that is to first understand what we are actually competing for. In “Blue Ocean Strategy”-speak this is called a Strategy Canvas.
Source: Blue Ocean Strategy
In the strategy canvas you map the competition and then carefully look for where you want to make a difference for a customer and make your “blue ocean move” to create uncontested market space.
To determine your actions you can use the four actions framework (or ERRC grid): You eliminate and reduce the unnecessary, and raise and create the meaningful that makes an actual difference.
Source: Blue Ocean Strategy
To make this a little bit more concrete check out the example of Cirque du Soleil vs. its competitors.
Cirque du Soleil eliminated all the waste that no one really wanted (star performers, animal shows, …), reduced fun and humor as well as thrills and danger but turned the whole evening into an experience with a unique venue and created themes as well as artistic music and dance. Something that never existed before. For this high-end experience they were able to increase the prices. They created a Blue Ocean for themselves against which the competitors couldn’t easily compete.
Personal Blue Oceans
When we move from the realm of business to the realm of our personal lives and career, this is what I call a Personal Blue Ocean. It is the state in which you go beyond competing.
Why is it relevant?
Let’s listen to Nassim Taleb.
Don’t stay busy competing. To get started with your Personal Blue Ocean journey, take the following steps:
Collect competing factors: Think of your current role and collect the factors on which you are competing with others. What does your daily grind look like? When are you emotionally triggered when you see colleagues and peers? Write these down.
Eliminate/Reduce: Ask yourself: Which of these factors can be eliminated or reduced? Which of these don’t really play to your strengths? Is it really necessary to be that excellent presenter when all you want to do is deep work, like writing, coding or performing an analysis?
Raise/Create: Which factors can be raised and created to make a difference for years to come? Maybe you have a hang for facilitation but are locked in a very specialized role without many touchpoints to others. Yet you see facilitation as something very valuable in the next few years, with cross-functional teams working remotely. How could you increase facilitation opportunities?
There is no straightforward recipe to creating a Personal Blue Ocean. But I believe everything starts with awareness and intention. Hopefully soon we can all send Philip a picture of us with our own inflatable islands in the background.
This article was an introduction to Blue Ocean Strategy and the idea of Personal Blue Oceans. If you are interested in more writing and practical advice on this topic please subscribe to my newsletter.
