Book Summary

Book Summary

CHAPTER 1 the Art of Smart
• Talks about how intelligence insight helps win the game of risk and reward
• To understand competitive perspective is like visiting an art museum
• Example: a painting called The Seine at the Grande Jatte by impressionist painter Georges Seurat: inches away you cannot see the whole picture, stepping back a few feet you gain the whole perspective of the entire painting
• Developing intelligence on a competitor is similar to creating a pointillist painting, the goal is not to create the perfect picture but a picture that is representative of reality
• Intelligence is
(1) using information efficiently
(2) about making critical decisions
(3) the art of applying imperfect knowledge
• Example of risk versus certainty: The battle between Fuji and Kodak
(1) Kodak: denied the changing reality and delayed taking action; wanted less risk and more information
(2) Fuji: acted on the same imperfect picture and gained competitive advantage; was willing to live with less information and more risks
• 2 important intelligence lessons from the painter: (1) Intelligence is like milk or eggs and has a short shelf life (2) It is very personal, very customized, almost unique
• examples of how people personalize intelligence’s use
(1) Intelligence must be applied quickly without hesitation: Robert Crandall (former CEO of AMR Corporation) built the first computer reservations system (SABRE) which American had spent years developing and cost countless millions
(2) With gut instinct and fast action, Jeff Taylor (founder and former chief monster of Monster.com) found Monster site

CHAPTER 2 Reality Bites
• Talks about removing blinders
• 2 types of competitive blindness: (1) which results from a strong belief that can mask reality (2) is caused by pure information overload
• Example of blindness (1): Guinness
(1) its management only considered other brewers as competitive threats
(2) the growing number of mobile phone buyers was the main...

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