Competition Derangement Syndrome

Competition Derangement Syndrome (CDS) is a condition in which decisions are made not out of strategic insight or innovative thinking but out of an obsessive, knee-jerk reaction to the competition.

Many CEOs are more focused on competition than customers and categories.

They're stuck in a CDS cycle of thinking: We have to catch up. We need to crush them with a better strategy/feature/product/campaign. They did it, so we have to do it.

To lay the beer price battle blame solely at Anheuser-Busch’s feet would be to miss the larger diagnosis. Like many companies, it was in the grip of Competition Derangement Syndrome. The executives didn't just choose to slash prices; they felt compelled to—driven by a disease that clouded their strategic vision and caused them to act in a way that was contrary to their own and the industry’s best interests.

When a company and its leaders are suffering from CDS, each move is more about countering the other than genuinely breaking new ground.

The fallout? 

It's not just the millions poured into attack ads or the dizzying price slashes. It's the missed opportunities for innovation, the lost chances to lead the market into uncharted territories, and the lost category potential of a radically different new market. When companies get caught up in the CDS cycle, they don't just risk their profits or market share. 

They risk their futures.

In this mini-book, you will learn:

• Why many leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs suffer from CDS and how to diagnose it within your own company

• The 3 risks of CDS and what can happen when leaders and companies start making decisions while infected with the disease

• How to cure CDS with an innovative category design approach called Strategy Therapy that combines brutal honesty and radical courage

This mini-book is jam-packed with real-life examples of companies that suffer from CDS and will give you a clear way out of competing and into designing a new and different category.