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Scissors, Paper,
Rock
BY MARTY NEUMEIER
LIQUIDAGENCY.COM
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COMPETING DIRECTION
THEY TEND TO COMPETE COUNTER-CLOCKWISE
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The fact is, as powerful as the principle of focus is, companies with different
degrees of focus can coexist in the marketplace. Perhaps the easiest way to
understand how this can happen is through the childrens game of scissors,
paper, rock. Remember how it goes? Scissors cuts paper, paper covers
rock, rock breaks scissors. Each position has its strengths and weaknesses,
creating a balanced cycle of competition.
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Business history suggests that companies thrive best when they settle into
stable states, conditions in which the business environment is fairly
predictable and employees have confidence in what theyre doing. In selforganization theory the part of chaos theory that studies how order seems
to arise spontaneously in complex systems these stable states are called
attractors. As a company grows, its attracted to one of three main states,
which we can call scissors, paper, and rock.
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GROWTH DIRECTION
COMPANIES TEND TO GROW CLOCKWISE,
FROM SCISSORS TO ROCK TO PAPER
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UNSTABLE STATES
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There are three observations you can make about the competition cycle:
1) companies tend to grow clockwise, from scissors to rock to paper;
2) they tend to compete counter-clockwise paper covers rock, rock breaks
scissors, scissors cuts paper; and 3) the spaces between the stable states
are unstable states periods of time when change is not only possible but
necessary. Its during these unstable periods that companies often need to
reposition their brands.
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What can you do with scissors-paper-rock? Tons. Seeing where you fit in the
competition cycle lets you 1) exploit your companys strengths and minimize
its weaknesses; 2) exploit your competitors weaknesses and better prepare
for their attacks; 3) use the unstable states to reinvent your zag; and 4) renew
your zag during the stable states to block a competitive move or simply
remain vital.
Renewing, repositioning or reinventing your brand?
Start with scissors-paper-rock.
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SOURCE: Z AG BY MA RT Y NEUMEIER
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