Beating The Competition Isn't Enough

No matter your business, your sport, your activity; you have competition. Even students are evaluated against each other, what percentile they are in after taking their standardized tests. When you have competition a simple desire everyone has is to beat them. How do you beat them head-to-head? How do you get into first place? How do you ensure customers pick you over the competition?

Once you've won, it is easy to feel triumphant. It feels good to be the best, to be the champion. But everyone knows that you can't get complacent in victory, you have to continue working hard to stay on top. Unfortunately where I see most people/teams/companies fall down is when they only compare themselves to their competition. If you are winning by a wide margin, it is easy to claim your title. Even when a customer complains or when your team didn't perform as well as they could have, a dangerous place is when you say, "Yes, but we are still better than the competition." Better than the competition doesn't mean that you can't still do better.

Let's say you have a pizza place, you are successful, business is profitable and you win all kinds of awards for the best pizza in town. Just because you are better than the other pizza places doesn't mean you can't still do better. You may be the best pizza in town, but you still have some people that have given you a 1 star review. Or you find that you still have extra waste in your preparation. You are the best but you can still be better.

Think about this as well, what happens if the rest of the competition just isn't that good? The best of the lousiest isn't a good place to be. You are capable of better. Always keep working to be better. Don't just tell people you are the best, show them. Remember that beating the competition isn't enough.

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