Break from the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy

More often than not, companies face the challenge of differentiating themselves from each other—a tricky process, but one that can be accomplished through careful planning, Harari promises. Focusing on exposure and profitability, he proposes a four-pronged process for moving into the lead, including having a contrarian mindset, a willingness to cast aside perceptions, exceptional follow-through and disciplined focus, and integrity and courage. While acknowledging that it's easy to be ahead one moment and behind the next, he also observes that if your products become irrelevant, then your company will, too. To avoid that fate, he points to the Madonna Effect, reasoning that the pop star has had such a sustainable career because she has continually reinvented herself for two decades, and that regularly reinventing your business can provide similar effects for your company. He also advocates the Willie Nelson Principle: jumping in front of a movement that is already successful, re-creating it for your own advantage and leading from there. While he isn't alone in his major emphasis—that "to break from the pack, you must dominate some significant area of the market"—his primer offers many useful, concrete tools for doing it. (Sept. 22)