Blue Ocean Shift - Beyond Competing - Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth

Renee Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim

Key Insights from Blue Ocean Shift Value Innovation: The central concept of creating uncontested market space by simultaneously pursuing differentiation and low cost. Blue Ocean vs Red Ocean: Blue Ocean represents all the industries not in existence today, while Red Ocean symbolises all the industries in existence today. The Five Steps to Blue Ocean Shift: Comprising of Get Started, Understand Where You Are Now, Imagine Where You Could Be, Find How You Get There, and Make Your Move. Blue Ocean Leadership: The Blue Ocean strategy approach to leadership, which aims to unleash the latent talent and energy of the organization. Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid: A tool to break away from the competition by reconstructing buyer value elements in crafting a new value curve. Buyer Utility Map: A tool to identify how to unlock exceptional utility in an offering. Strategy Canvas: A diagnostic tool to capture the current state of play in the known market space. Pioneer-Migrator-Settler Map: A tool to understand the current state of play in your organization. Three E Principles of Fair Process: Engagement, explanation, and expectation clarity. Humphrey Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS): A methodology used to examine the emotional responses of people to their work environment. Analysis of Blue Ocean Shift Blue Ocean Shift - Beyond Competing, written by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim, is a compelling narrative that provides a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and creating uncontested market space. This book builds upon the concepts and tools introduced in the authors' previous book, Blue Ocean Strategy. The concept of Value Innovation, which is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost, is a central theme. The authors argue that companies succeed not by battling competitors, but by creating "blue oceans" of uncontested market space ripe for growth. The book distinguishes between Blue Ocean and Red Ocean. Red Oceans are all the industries in existence today – the known market space, where industry boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules are known. Here, companies try to outperform their rivals to grab a greater share of product or service demand. On the other hand, Blue Oceans denote all the industries not in existence today – the unknown market space, unexplored and untainted by competition. In Blue Oceans, demand is created rather than fought over. There is ample opportunity for growth that is both profitable and rapid. In Blue Oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. The authors outline a systematic Five-Step Process to achieve a Blue Ocean Shift. This process includes: Get Started, where you understand the need for a strategic shift and identify the team to drive it; Understand Where You Are Now through the use of the Strategy Canvas; Imagine Where You Could Be by visualizing the possibilities of unexplored market spaces; Find How You Get There by identifying the sequence of creating your blue ocean move; and finally, Make Your Move by executing your plan. In addition to these, the authors introduce several practical tools and frameworks such as the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid, the Buyer Utility Map, the Pioneer-Migrator-Settler Map, and the Strategy Canvas. These tools are designed to help companies and individuals break away from the competition and create a unique value proposition. The book also emphasizes the importance of Blue Ocean Leadership, which aims to unleash the latent talent and energy of the organization by providing a systematic approach to leadership, and the Three E Principles of Fair Process – engagement, explanation, and expectation clarity – which are critical in implementing a successful Blue Ocean Shift. Finally, the book uses the Humphrey Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) as a methodology to examine the emotional responses of people to their work environment. This is a critical aspect of the Blue Ocean Shift as it can significantly impact the successful implementation of the strategy. In conclusion, "Blue Ocean Shift" provides a comprehensive guide to breaking away from the competition and creating a unique value proposition. It offers valuable insights and practical tools and frameworks that can be applied to any organization looking to make a strategic move beyond competing and towards creating new growth opportunities.