‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ (what I’m reading)

Every market seems to be overcrowded nowadays. It doesn’t matter if you’re a science fiction author or a plumber.

But what if you could find ways to create and tap new markets, and thereby make the competition irrelevant?

This is the premise behind the book, Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. The authors, RenĂ©e Mauborgne and W.Chan Kim, developed the ideas in this book while researching and writing a handful of articles over the years. If you compete in a crowded marketplace (and who doesn’t?), Blue Ocean Strategy is very much worth reading.

The “blue ocean” metaphor contrasts with the metaphor of “red oceans”. Red oceans are filled with competitors (i.e., hungry sharks eating chum). Blue oceans are untapped areas where new markets can be created and new customers can be discovered.

I’m presently reading the third chapter. As is my custom, I’ll report back when I’ve read the entire book.