Why Pharma Companies Need External Expertise in Competitive Simulation Exercises—Like a Winning Football Team Needs a Coach
After spending two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, I’ve seen companies struggle to stay ahead of competitors, anticipate market shifts, and adapt to unexpected threats. Just like football, the industry is a high-stakes, fast-moving game, where misreading the competition or failing to anticipate the next play can cost you the championship.
I’ve worked with organizations that rely on competitive simulation exercises, or what we often call wargaming, to pressure-test their strategies and prepare for real-world competitive battles. Early in my career, I was part of an internal team that ran these simulations on our own, assuming our deep industry knowledge was enough to predict our rivals’ moves. But much like a team trying to coach itself without an outside perspective, we kept running the same plays, missing key insights, and failing to adapt to new threats. That’s when I realized the value of an external coach—and in pharma, that means bringing in external competitive intelligence (CI) experts to challenge assumptions, provide fresh insights, and build a winning strategy.
The Pitfalls of Running Competitive Simulations Without a Coach
1. Internal Bias: Calling the Same Plays Over and Over
Every football team has signature plays—strategies they know well and rely on in key moments. But what happens when the defense sees it coming? They adjust, shut it down, and suddenly, your biggest strength is a liability.
This is exactly what happens in pharma when internal teams run their own competitive simulations. No matter how much experience they have, they tend to see the market through their own lens. Internal biases and groupthink can prevent teams from recognizing unconventional competitor moves, much like a coach failing to anticipate a trick play.
Bringing in external CI consultants is like hiring a new offensive coordinator—they bring a fresh playbook, analyze competitor tendencies without bias, and help your team see vulnerabilities before the other side exploits them.
2. Limited View of Competitor Strategies: Only Watching Your Own Game Film
Imagine preparing for the Super Bowl by reviewing only your own team’s past games—never watching the film of your opponent. That’s what happens when pharma teams focus only on their own products and internal strategies without deep intelligence on competitor moves, regulatory shifts, and emerging threats.
I’ve been in wargaming exercises where teams assumed competitors would behave rationally—only to be blindsided when they launched a surprise pricing strategy, an aggressive marketing campaign, or a disruptive new technology. CI consultants specialize in competitor intelligence—tracking market dynamics, regulatory filings, and product launches—giving your team the competitive scouting report it needs to win.
3. Lack of an Experienced Play Caller: Who’s Running the Simulation?
A football team can have all the talent in the world, but it won’t execute at a high level if it lacks a coherent game plan. The same applies to competitive simulations.
Wargames can become chaotic debates rather than structured, strategic discussions without a skilled facilitator. Internal teams often struggle to run objective, engaging exercises, much like a team that tries to coach itself on the fly. Experienced facilitators act as head coaches, ensuring:
Having a coach in the booth—someone who sees the entire field and makes adjustments in real time—can make the difference between a routine scrimmage and a game-changing strategy session.
4. Time and Resource Constraints: Juggling Too Many Plays at Once
Coaching staffs in football have dedicated coordinators for offense, defense, and special teams—because there’s too much at stake to juggle everything at once.
Similarly, internal pharma teams are already overloaded with R&D timelines, regulatory hurdles, and commercialization efforts. Expecting them to design, execute, and facilitate a high-impact wargame is like asking your star quarterback to call the plays, analyze the defense, and coach the rookies while running a two-minute drill.
External experts allow internal teams to fully focus on learning, adapting, and building strategies rather than getting bogged down in logistics and facilitation.
How External CI Experts Elevate Competitive Simulations—Like a Championship-Winning Coaching Staff
Over the years, I’ve worked alongside some of the best competitive intelligence experts, and I’ve seen how they transform wargaming from a routine exercise into a strategic powerhouse:
They push teams to anticipate industry disruptions, helping pharma leaders play the long game rather than reacting to immediate threats.
Striking the Right Balance: Internal Expertise + External Strategy
Players know the game in football, but great coaches create the winning strategy. The same is true in pharma—internal teams have deep institutional knowledge, but external CI experts provide the strategic edge.
Competitive simulation exercises shouldn’t just be routine practice drills—they should be high-stakes strategy sessions that prepare teams for the real competitive battles ahead. Companies that combine their internal expertise with external intelligence and facilitation consistently outmaneuver the competition and win the market.
How Proactive Worldwide Ensures Your Team Stays Ahead
At Proactive Worldwide, we specialize in turning competitive simulations into championship-caliber strategy sessions. Our expert facilitators act as your coaching staff, designing and executing immersive, data-driven wargames tailored to the pharmaceutical industry's unique challenges.
We help companies:
In an industry where being reactive means falling behind, competitive simulations—when done right—are a game-changer. And just like in football, the best teams don’t just play the game—they master it.