Picked up Play Bigger again. The concept of category design makes a lot of sense and cross-links to many concepts out there already. In a nutshell: define and create a new category, and then dominate the category by positioning yourself as the category king. It is hard to unseat category kings due to the many biases we are subject to, but more specifically:
- anchoring effect: early information affects overall view
- choice supportive bias: positive qualities to options we have chosen
- groupthink bias: people embrace the category king simply because so many others have
The idea of category design stuck because it helps focus when designing a new business. Create or define clearly ‘where to play’, and then figuring out ‘how to win’. A category design approach reminds me of blue ocean strategy thinking as opposed to entering a red ocean. So then meanings when design is applied to different levels in an organization:
- Company design: business model innovation
- Category design: strategy design (blue ocean strategy as category design vs competing in a red ocean)
- Product design: product innovation
Category design applied to careers
Category thinking comes to life when applied to one’s career. From Play Bigger:
Well, Dave, you have two choices in business and in your career. You can position yourself, or you can be positioned. And I’ve positioned myself as CMO in this company, and you’ve been positioned as the lowest person on the totem pole.
And it is about taking advantage of the exponential value of different versus the incremental value of better.
Category Design of Life
- Category is the strategy: “The best way to start a category and make yourself its king is to find one of those problems, concisely define it, and make sure others see it as you see it.”
- Find your category: “When you seek different, your aren’t climbing someone else’s ladder–you’re building your own ladder and putting yourself at the top rung.”
- Develop a point of view: “Putting yourself through a POV exercise can be incredibly clarifying. How do you define who your are and what you want to mean to the world?”
- Condition the market: “At work it might be a report to key superiors, or a presentation to a colleagues, or in the way you present yourself on LinkedIn or Twitter.”
- Design an ecosystem: “Form bonds that go beyond the walls of your company. Just like categories make category kings, other people make you successful.”
- Fire up a lightning strike: “For a person, a lightning strike can be both a great motivator and a life-changing event. A lightning strike is a huge public goal, which might range from performing a musical piece at a recital to major presentation at work.”
- Establish yourself, then expand your category: “This is how you grow, open up new opportunities, and generate more demand for yourself.”
I’d say the challenge is to keep doing all of the above consistently–a key trait of entrepreneurship is consistency.