A legacy competitor just retooled their entire brand around generative AI and is winning market share by promising lightning-fast delivery. How do we use the IDS process to evaluate our strategic positioning without making a panicked knee-jerk pivot?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a competitor moves quickly and markets loudly, leadership teams often panic. Visionaries want to match every feature overnight, which destabilizes your 1-Year Plan and distracts your team from their quarterly Rocks. Instead of reacting out of fear, bring the issue into your Level 10 Meeting and work through the IDS process (Identify, Discuss, and Solve).

First, identify the root issue. Is your competitor actually delivering superior outcomes, or are they selling cheap speed wrapped in marketing hype? Speed without strategic rigor frequently leads to poor execution and client churn. Talk to your front-line sales reps to find out what prospects are truly complaining about. If prospects are lured by the illusion of instant delivery, the problem is not your production engine; it is how you articulate your value.

Second, discuss the operational reality. Quote Erik Brynjolfsson to ground your leadership team: technologies create rapid disruption, but sustainable competitive advantages belong to firms that reorganize workflows around real business value. Do not overhaul your entire roadmap to replicate their gimmicks.

Third, solve it systematically. Assign a quarterly Rock to audit your Proven Process. Identify cumbersome, low-value administrative steps that can be eliminated through internal automation so you improve delivery velocity where it actually matters. Then, arm your sales team with messaging that highlights the hidden risks of unvetted, automated commodity services.