Kaihan Krippendorff - Outthink the Competition: How a New Generation of Strategists Sees Options Others Ignore

Praise for Outthink the Competition

Instant information, immediate price comparison, and an expanding breadth of customer choice are thrusting business leaders into a new era of competition. Kaihan's fresh message opens minds and motivates strategic change in an era that demands change. If you want to outthink the competition, read this book.

Robert Bloom
U.S. CEO, Publicist Worldwide, retired;
Author of The New Experts and The Inside Advantage

We have been using Kaihan's concepts for years now to grow our company and they just work. Outthink the Competition packs his principles into an easy-to-apply framework that will have your competition guessing at every turn. Read this before your competitors do.

Roy Hessel
CEO and founder, EyeBuyDirect

Having a great product and team is no longer enough. Leaders need to be able to understand, anticipate, and creatively manage the competition and world markets. Kaihan helps create a template to Outthink the Competition and this playbook is in a form that business leaders can apply today.

Michael Minogue
Chairman, President, and CEO, Abiomed Inc.

Outthink the Competition packages a vast swath of fundamental strategic principles into a practical framework for the modern-day business leader. It shows that insights of Sun Tzu and other historical strategic minds of lineage are even more relevant competing today.

Mark McNeilly
Author of Sun Tzu and The Art of Business

The rules of business have changed dramatically. How you win tomorrow will be radically different from the past and few have their pulse on the emerging era of business competition as firmly as strategist Kaihan. Read this book or be left behind.

Josh Linkner
New York Times bestselling author of Disciplined Dreaming;
CEO, Detroit Venture Partners;
Chairman and founder, ePrize

Kaihan continues to demonstrate the power and persuasiveness of storytelling. His compelling insights from contemporary successful strategic outthinkers are grounded in the centuries-old wisdom of the narratives of political leaders, generals, scientists and even sports heroesall innovators in their field. The often counterintuitive lessons will resonate and stimulate any leader navigating the new 24/7 global challenges of today... and more importantly, tomorrow.

Paul Kennedy
McKinsey & Company Partner, retired

Copyright 2012 by Kaihan Krippendorff. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Krippendorff, Kaihan.

Outthink the competition: how a new generation of strategists sees options others ignore/Kaihan Krippendorff. 1

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-118-10508-5 (hardback)

ISBN: 978-1-118-16384-9 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-16385-6 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-16386-3 (ebk)

1. Strategic planning. 2. Competition. 3. Creative thinking. 4. New products. I. Title. HD30.28.K753 2012

658.4012dc23

2011029034

Acknowledgments

When writing my first book in 2004, I thanked my wife, Pilar Ramos, for giving up weekends in the sun so that I could write. Seven years later, our family grown, her sacrifices are four times as large. I thank her and our three beautiful childrenLucas, Kaira, and Makarfor understanding how important this book was to me and allowing me the space to finish it. I am glad I will be back home more often now, for ftbol games, movie nights, and giggles. I also thank my father, Klaus Krippendorff; my mother, Sultana Alam; and my stepmother, Marge Thorellfor being unconditionally interested and encouraging.

My agent, Laurie Harper, warned me that I would get to write only one book. After the first one, a work of love you write all alone, you become a team with deadlines and process. She was right, and I could not continue to do what I love without the outstanding professionals around me who support my work, including Laurie, who has guided and represented me for nearly 10 years now; Megan Fuhrmeister, who has become a daily partner, helping me think through my messages and produce the weekly articles that formed the building blocks of this book; and Maggie Stuckey, whose ability to understand, untangle, and weave order from such a breadth of subjects, while staying true to my voice, made this book possible.

My colleagues and collaborators also made essential and innumerable contributions, providing the practical experience to help ensure that this book and the Outthinker Process presented here actually work in real life. I thank Nadia Laurinci, Lolita Albuquerque, Satoko Gibbs, Helmut Albrecht, Robin Albin, Susan Drumm, Thaddeus Ward, Lynette Gilbert, Jenny Sarang, Patrick Thean, and my friends at BlessingWhite, AltaGerencia, and Harvard Business Review Latin America .

In preparing this book, I have drawn on experiences with many clients who have, whether they are aware of it or not, enriched this book by allowing me to work with them. Some of these include Mike Minogue, Shannon Wallis, Shannon Banks, Tony Crabb, Salomon Sredni, Marc Speichert, Enrique Riquelme, Juan Pablo Michelsen, Michel Correa, and Juan Jose Gonzales.

I also enjoy the guidance, support, and mentorship of several forward thinkers and am especially grateful to Paul Kennedy, Sabrina Herrera, Jack Barker, Verne Harnish, Joseph Miller, Josh Linkner, and John Copeland.

Finally, about 50 busy entrepreneurs and CEOs agreed to spend time with me to discuss their organizations, strategies, and thought processes. Their names are sprinkled throughout this book, so I will not list them again here. But to them all I say, thank-you for allowing me and all those who read this book an opportunity to learn from you.