I would like to lose a few pounds. It would make me feel better, my pants would not be so snug and my blood pressure would go down. You would probably agree that these are laudable goals. So, a remarkably bad idea for me is to go somewhere that they serve chips and salsa. Or pizza. (Or a few other things.) It is just that certain things attract me so strongly that consuming them in moderation is difficult. Thus, because I cannot avoid these temptations, my weight loss goal is especially hard to reach (but I do enjoy mealtimes).

Of course, these foods are not completely bad. Maybe if I ate a few chips or only one slice of cheese pizza, I would do better. Perhaps I could eat other healthier foods more often and combine them with better exercise habits. I need the whole package to reach and maintain the correct weight. Whatever else I do, I especially need to be aware of the common pitfalls to avoid (goodbye to deep dish pizza).

In competitive intelligence, it is my experience and observation that we have pitfalls that inhibit us from reaching the desired goal. That goal, in my opinion, is to help strategy leaders make better decisions. Nevertheless, the pitfalls distract the competitive intelligence professional from usefully satisfying the needs of strategy decision-makers.

Here are my five (least) favorite pitfalls that should be avoided. I wonder if you agree with me.

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You know what it is like to define and shepherd a product through the long process of development and then face the ultimate marketplace judgment about your efforts. There are so many times that you would pay handsomely for credible information that helped you decide on the right strategy, select the right market, position correctly versus your competitors and, of course, reach your revenue and profit goals. Good competitive intelligence addressees all of those questions.

Your job is to champion one or more products for your company. Each product needs to be successful in a marketplace crowded with existing competitors. New threats emerge over time that you have to anticipate and proactively manage. Development teams count on your guidance to build the product with the right features. Your general manager relies on you to help deliver the needed revenues and profits. All along the way, you have to understand the environment, explain your recommendations and justify the company’s investments for your product. This is not a job for the timid.

Competitive Intelligence Helps With the Challenges

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Alice heard Bob before she saw him. Talking rapidly on the phone and carrying a set of PowerPoint slides, Bob came bursting around the corner toward his office where Alice had been waiting patiently. With the barest nod of his head, he passed Alice and continued his phone conversation as he sat down at his desk. Something appeared to be up.

Alice was miffed. Bob was 15 minutes late to a meeting that he had asked for earlier in the day. Ostensibly they were going to discuss his upcoming meeting with his boss where Bob had to explain how to recover from various competitive attacks. Now that he had shown up, he was distracted by what appeared to be an emergency.

Alice had to admit that he seemed different from earlier that day. The tentativeness was gone and the energy that most associated with Bob was evident. She could understand why he was successful with his product line for so long. He was decisive, passionate and hard working. She waited from him to finish his call.

Bob finally hung up the phone and looked at her. “Come in, Alice,” he said.

“Sounds like you had an emergency today, Bob,” ventured Alice.

“You might say that,” replied Bob. “Do you know about the conference coming up in a couple of weeks? Well, we had some plans to make a splash there by announcing a new product. Guess who just preempted up.”

“I suppose it would be one of our competitors,” Alice answered.

“Yes, and not just any competitor. It’s those guys over at Advanced Products. They seem to delight in sticking it to us. This isn’t the first time that they have pulled a stunt like this. Seems like they are determined to keep the press focus off of us,” Bob said with a hint of anger.

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My wonderful son stood in front of me excited to be retelling the adventures he had at church camp last week. He was full of words and stories. I just love hearing him talk about his experiences and answer questions. I asked him about his favorite food, the friends he made, the different play activities, the bus trip and so on.

Did he remember the things that his mother told him before he left on the trip? For instance, did he always put on sunscreen (the Texas sun is bright and very hot in July)? Yes, he assured me that he always had done so.

Did he remember to always wear his swim shirt to the lake? That’s when he averted his eyes, shifted his feet and changed his tone. “Well,” he said “I only went to the lake twice.” And then he grinned at me and I knew. TRANSLATION: Dad, I forgot about the shirt.

When you know someone really well, you can often sense their message from many cues that are more telling and accurate than their words. All of the other signals give them away. In fact, in a strange way, the actual words are distracting as often as they are informative.

Interpersonal signals abound among those we know best (and that know us). I use this often with close friends.

We might be listening to a speaker when one of us will signal the other with a lifted eye brow (TRANSLATION: can you believe this speaker?). A casual flicker of the hand (TRANSLATION: this is not important), a half smile (TRANSLATION: I’ll tell why it’s amusing later) or rolling eyes (TRANSLATION: we are wasting our time) can all be quite meaningful when interpreted correctly.

In competitive intelligence we can use the same signals (except that our subjects are other companies).

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