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TRAINING HOME |
| The Strategy School |
| The Strategy Shop |
Its Power
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The Critical Differences |
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| Competition | Production |
| Exploring and experimenting | Designing and organizing |
| External, chaotic environments | Internal, controlled environments |
| People competing | People cooperating |
| Anonymous, unattained resources | Known, available resources |
| Event-based responses | Predetermined steps |
| Factors details into larger picture | Breaks processes into finer details |
| Unique, custom solutions | Duplicate, standard products |
| Adjusts to environment as a whole | Controls part of environment |
| General improvement in position | Well-specified end result |
Productive and competitive methods create the resources for each other in a constant cycle. The better our competitive skills, the more resources we capture to use productively. The better our production, the more resource we produce for use in external competition. Competition and production are closely tied to each other, but they require different skill sets. In the science of strategy, they are defined as "complementary opposites." Both are necessary. They work together. But you must understand how they are different.
The problem in recent decades is that our knowledge of production have greatly overshadowed our competitive perspective and reflexes. Fortunately, there is a growing interest in the types of strategic skills that people need on the front lines of competition. Fortunately, we have the classical strategy of Sun Tzu to guide us in building our competitive perspective and sharpening our decision-making reflexes.