“If we played ’em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight we skate with them. We stay with them. And we shut them down because we can. Tonight, we’re the greatest hockey team in the world.”
– Herb Brooks (1937 – 2003), coach of the 1980 United States Hockey team before they played the USSR in the Olympic semi-final in Lake Placid, NY
In many industries or professions (most, perhaps?), there are one or two — maybe three behemoth market leaders. Across the board, whether B2C, B2B, B2B2C, you name it. Almost every market has a very small set of companies that dominate. And the market suffers. The customers suffer. The only way to grow a giant, publicly-traded company is to provide less for more. And, if that giant, publicly-traded oligopoly or company happens to serve a shrinking market — they become predatory. It’s called survival.
The 1980 Soviet hockey team was like that. A machine. Void of personality. Ruthlessly efficient. Alarmingly effective. Unless someone changed the game. Until one team decided to skate with them. Stay with them. Shut them down. For one night. For one game.
As Ries and Trout taught us all those years ago, only the leader can be the leader. But the leader is not the only one in the competition that can survive.
This week, I shared a meeting room and a few meals with an exceptional group of people who can skate with anyone, one game at a time. The good news is, we can only play one game at a time.
As for those people around that table? It is an honor to “skate” with them.
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