Why You Should Stop Trying To Be Better Than Your Competition

Goldfish are pretty remarkable creatures, they can live up to 40 years old (one of the oldest reported was 45 years old), they have been a domesticated pet for almost 2000 years, they have a 3 month memory (not 3 seconds as commonly thought) and they can recognise people’s faces.

A good bit of pub trivia: the collective noun for a group of goldfish is “a troubling of goldfish.”

The difference is in the detail

On a recent trip to Hong Kong I visited a road called Tung Choi St, home to the cities ‘Goldfish Market.’ The street is lined with over 100 shops selling (funnily enough) goldfish.

Looking down the street, pretty much every shop looked the same, with hundreds of fish in bags lining each shop-front, ready to be bought at a moments notice.

It was a pretty ridiculous sight, but it was fascinating to see. My first question was “how can all of these goldfish shops survive, as they sell exactly the same thing.” It isn’t until you start looking closer at things, that you begin to see the differences between what initially seemed to be identical.

The goldfish industry is worth billions and billions of dollars in China alone with the exact figures unknown due to unsolicited and black market sales being unaccountable for, (in the UK it is estimated the aquatic industry is worth ￡400 million per year).

Each shop was different from the next with changes in variety of the goldfish, pricing, cleanliness of the shop, attentiveness of the shop assistants, % of dead fish in bags and other animals on show.

These differences hold the key to competition, rather than investing in infrastructure and trying to be better, the goldfish shops (especially new ones) need an advantage, so they must be different.

Better isn’t always better, sometimes it is worse

We are taught from a young age that we must be better than others, if we are not, then we should copy what the best are doing and then do it better. It sounds like a good system, yet the concept is fatally flawed.

The reality of being “better” is purely a mirage. It is a temporary thing that keeps you chained into working the same way as your competition. It is easy to topple someone who is better, a fancy degree, a larger following, a lower price, a new technology e.t.c.

We can end up running on a hamster wheel, all trying to run faster than everybody else, except that everyone is running in the same direction. The moment that you start differentiating from the competition is when you can become the go-to person for a particular reason.

Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet. We know him for being quick, but if you ask someone about him, chances are people will talk about his lightning bolt pose, attitude, charisma and dancing more than his running strengths.

Embrace being different

Being different is better than being better. Being different allows you to highlight certain aspects you already have within you. You might not be better than your competition, but you are already different.

In 2012, a Harvard Business Review article poll found that;

“39% of B2B buyers select a vendor according to the skills of the salesperson rather than price, quality or service features.”

In business, marketplaces become even more crowded, strengths matter less than differences. When competition is focused on price or quality or certain service features, being good makes a difference.

For example, job hunting. Certain strengths (usually degrees and experience) become the standard. So competing on the same level as everyone else’s strengths leads to an endless cycle of incremental improvements, making it hard to shine. What really stands out beyond that are your personal differences.

Stand out or be ignored

If you want to be in a position where you can influence decision-makers, you need to understand and embrace your personality advantages and how to use them. Finding out what and to who you are fascinating to allows you to use those traits to your advantage.

In every situation, as competition increases, our differences matter more than our strengths. It may feel risky to stand out, but the other option holds much more danger: being ignored.

Most people feel discouraged by their competition and can be fascinated by them. Research has shown that 2 out of 3 people think they are less interesting than the average person. Therefore we, as a society, have already set the bar low. You can raise the bar if you focus on your differences and use them to your advantage.

Knowing what others want and expect from you, and how you deliver it like nobody else, requires you to look at yourself from the perspective of how the world sees you.

This means combating your competition by focusing on how your offering is different, but also on how you (the person) are essential to the solution.

Paul Davies writes about the search for living a happier and healthier life. For more ideas and easy systems you can implement to change your life then join his free newsletter.