Kaihan Krippendorff

Eight Paths to Outthinking the Competition. For the past 50 years the game of business was relatively simple. You won by doing what your competitors cannot do. This approach to strategic advantage led to predictable order of things. Large companies who could control resources, command economies of scale, or locked up customers, invariably won against smaller rivals.

But the tables have turned, the rules have changed, the old order is being disrupted. We are witnessing the emergence of a new generation of rivals – from Google and RIM to Rosetta Stone and Urban Outfitters who are embracing a new form of competition. They recognize that one does not need to do what competitors cannot do;, it is sufficient to do what your competition will not do. They specifically create reasons for the competition not to copy across eight dimensions:

1.      Positioning
2.      Product
3.      Price
4.      Place
5.      Promotion
6.      Physical experience
7.      Processes
8.      People 

Companies that make disruptive choices, what Krippendorff calls “Fourth Options,” grow faster and generate higher profit margins than their peers, and he will inspire you to add new “fourth options” to you business strategy and increase the calibration of your competitive advantage.

The New Outthinker Playbook. All domains experience periodic transformations during which the old rules expire and new approaches emerge. During such revolutions “outthinkers” emerge who think outside of prevailing paradigms. They see the world differently so they act differently. Because they act differently, they win. We are undergoing such a revolution in the realm of business competition today. A new generation of strategist is emerging, applying a new playbook to the business game. Those who fail to adapt to this new playbook will be left behind. Kaihan’s research shows specifically how these new generations of strategists think differently and shows you how to adopt the emerging playbook. This requires making five shifts in how you approach the competition:

1. Move early to the next battleground. The old view held that one must win today’s battleground; this positions you to win tomorrow. Today’s outthinkers adopt a different view: you must already start moving to tomorrow’s battleground; managing the transitions positions you to win tomorrow.

2. Coordinate the uncoordinated. Under the old view, you created power by owning things and keeping them inside your walls. Today’s winners understand that you can create power by coordinating things, often indirectly, outside your walls.

3. Force two-front battles. Traditional perspectives held that we are experts in our industry, so we will compete within industry lines. This leads to single-front battles. But today’s outthinkers understand that our expertise is unrelated to our industry, so we will leverage our expertise across industry bounds. This forces competitors onto two-front battles.

4. Be good. It has for decades been accepted that corporations exist to serve shareholders and, secondarily, customers. But in the new era of business competition the more enlightened are realizing that corporations are better off serving all stakeholders: shareholders, customers, employees, the community, the country, and the environment/ world.

5. Create something out of nothing. We have been conditioned to play with the pieces on the board, with the players in the game. But to win tomorrow you need to become more adept at creating and removing pieces and players as needed.

Five Habits of Creative Strategic Thinkers. At the heart of outthinking the competition sits one fundamental question: how do some people see and seize strategic options that others overlook? I’ve studied some of history’s most creative strategists from Sun Tzu to Napoleon Bonaparte to Mahatma Gandhi and had the opportunity to get into the minds of some of their modern peers like the social and business leaders I mention in this book. I’ve had the opportunity to coach some amazingly creative leaders and train 5,000 people so far on the topic of strategic creativity. If we mash all of these experiences together, contrasting the thought processes of outthinkers with the rest of us, we see five key habits that lead outthinkers toward seeing and realizing unorthodox solutions:

1.      Mental time travel
2.      Attacking the interconnected system
3.      Frame-shifting
4.      Disruptive mind-set
5.      Shaping perceptions

How some people naturally arrive at these habits, I am not sure. But I do know they can be learned. If we strengthen our muscles in these five areas, we begin seeing and seizing solutions that others overlook. If we can develop these habits in our team and across our company, we start unlocking the inert creative potential of our organizations. We free people to find pathways through challenges that we once thought were unworkable. We can help make the impossible possible every day. 

The Outthinker Process.Kaihan has trained over 5,000 people in The Outthinker Process, inside companies ranging from Microsoft and Symantec to General Electric and L’Oreal. This systematic approach to devising disruptive strategies works. It enables you to see strategic options others do not see and effectively build support for your unorthodox ideas. Each program is designed to fulfill on three promises:

1.      You will see new strategic options for solving a real challenge you face today and you will be excited by the possibilities these options give you.
2.      You will reach “strategic clarity,” having defined a game plan composed of a few priorities you can immediately begin executing or validating.
3.      You will begin developing new strategic thinking habits.

The program walks through five steps for developing and building buy-in for an innovative strategy. The process is called IDEAS:

1.      Imagine: defining the ideal future and agreeing on a key strategic question you must answer to get there
2.      Dissect: identifying potential points of leverage that will allow you to reach your ideal more quickly and easily
3.      Expand: use pattern-recognition to generate 50 to 200 innovative potential strategies
4.      Analyze: isolate the strategic options with the greatest disruptive potential (e.g., that clients will love and customers will not copy)
5.      Sell: wrap your strategy in a communication that wins interest and support

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"Kaihan shows that with a compelling idea anyone can change the world." - Mohammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner

"Kaihan's groundbreaking work on strategy development changes the game for organizations facing an increasingly competitive environment. As a consultant and facilitator, Kaihan makes developing strategy look easy but don't be fooled. The easygoing demeanor masks depths of experience, a razor-sharp intellect and true creative genius. We have benefited from working with this emerging leader in the field of strategic consulting." - Microsoft

"We invited Kaihan to address a global body of our top talent. He delivers cutting edge business concepts with his own unique tools in a way that inspires leaders to think differently. His professional approach, innovative concepts and deep knowledge of strategy holds up against the most sophisticated and experienced audiences." - GE Healthcare

"We've exposed thousands of executives of growth firms around the world to Kaihan Krippendorff's concrete and practical stratagems for dealing with competitive threats and he's been universally well received by our tough and discerning audiences." Verne Harnish, CEO Gazelles Inc., Founder Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), Author Mastering the Rockefeller Habits

"Kaihan has had a profound, positive impact on our top management." - Microsoft

"Kaihan’s ability to reflect on history and keenly link to the current business environment displays his rich respect and creativity for businesses." - Walmart

"Kaihan is a trusted strategic advisor to an ever-growing base of corporate executives. With wide-ranging expertise, he offers a unique perspective into how companies innovate, compete, and win." - Johnson & Johnson

"Kaihan stimulates such interesting and thought-provoking ideas. The management team was so motivated by the recommendations they generated after hearing Kaihan’s philosophy on generating options." - L’Oreal USA

"Kaihan stands far apart from other strategy gurus by drawing from the millennia-old fund of human ingenuity to offer a truly innovative approach." - Morgan Stanley

"Kaihan’s groundbreaking work has captured the essence of corporate strategy in an insightful, memorable and pragmatic manner." - Western Union

"Unlike other strategy experts, Kaihan transforms the complex into simple, understandable concepts one can immediately apply." - GE Latin America

"The nature of global business competition has been undergoing a radical change and new ways of thinking and acting are required to become and stay effective in this newly defined environment. Leaders and companies have to find new ways of dealing with risk in order to survive or they will fall behind. In Outthink the Competition Kaihan Krippendorff outlines the specific changes underway and provides practical tools to help you adopt a new mind-set to link your strategy to key financial indicators for better results. If you do not yet understand the strategic value of being good or how to wield the emerging power of coordination, read this book." - GE Healthcare

"In Outthink the Competition Kaihan Krippendorff underscores the strategic power of being able to see, intelligently select, and pursue new options that your competition overlooks. This ability is the starting spark of all great growth stories and it is a critical skill for leaders to master. If you want continue out-innovating the competition, take a closer look at the systematic process outlined in this book." - AFLAC

"We are competing in a fast-paced, interconnected world. While our book shelves are now filled with advice on how to manage organizations, inspire employees, and connect with consumers in this new era, no one has talked convincingly about how to manage the competition…until now. Outthink the Competition shows how to adjust your strategy to the new realities of business in order to out-play, out-wit and out-last your competitors." - TradeStation Group

"Having a great product and team is no longer enough. Leaders need to be able to understand, anticipate, and creatively manage the competition and world markets. Kaihan helps create a template to Outthink the Competition and this playbook is in a form that business leaders can apply today." - Abiomed Inc.

"We have been using Kaihan Krippendorff’s concepts for years now to grow our company and they just work. Outthink the Competition packs his principles into an easy-to-apply framework that will have your competition guessing at every turn. Read this before your competitors do." - EyeBuyDirect

"Companies rightfully spend an enormous amount of time and effort seeking to better understand our customers. But we often overlook a player with an equally important seat at the table: the competition. In Outthink the Competition Kaihan Krippendorff helps adjust for this imbalance. He provides practical methods to systematically analyze and intelligently manage the competition. This does not mean copying or even responding to the competition. In means precisely the opposite." - L'Oreal USA

"Outthink the Competition packages a vast swath of fundamental strategic principles into a practical framework for the modern-day business leader. It shows that insights of Sun Tzu and other historical strategic minds of lineage are even more relevant competing today." Mark McNeilly, Author of Sun Tzu and the Art of Business

"Instant information, immediate price comparison, and an expanding breadth of customer choice are thrusting business leaders into a new era of competition. Kaihan Krippendorff’S fresh message opens minds and motivates strategic change in an era that demands change. If you want to Outthink the Competition read this book." Robert Bloom, US CEO Publicis Worldwide, Retired; Author, The New Experts and The Inside Advantage

"The rules of business have changed dramatically. How you win tomorrow will be radically different from the past and few have their pulse on the emerging era of business competition as firmly as strategist Kaihan Krippendorff. Read this book or be left behind." Josh Linkner, NY Times Bestselling Author of Disciplined Dreaming; CEO, Detroit Venture Partners; Chairman and Founder, ePrize

"Without a truly compelling and simple strategy that is able to thwart the competition, the next 3-5 years of execution is going to be a waste of time – or at least not as much fun! Kaihan provides an approach that will get the job done." Verne Harnish, CEO Gazelles, Author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits