Yesterday I wrote about the pendulum of inaction vs. panic, with my suggestion that as soloists we tend to live in a constant state of reassessment.

And rightly so.

Not to be outdone (😉), BCG released this article along the same lines about the balance of complacency vs. paranoia in corporate leadership.

It’s an interesting short read, citing examples from Intel to Amazon to Virgin Atlantic.

The hook: only 17% of companies that significantly outperformed their sector were able to maintain that advantage over 5 years.

The gist: success is fleeting, and you always need to be looking at your next move.

The article is naturally geared toward CEOs and other corporate executives, but the application to soloists isn’t a far leap.

They suggest five key behaviors to stay maintain a “healthy paranoia," modified by me for our context…

1. Honestly assess your own openness to a shift in strategy
2. Take market and stakeholder feedback seriously
3. Conduct regular business reviews - “How are we really doing?”
4. Actively flesh out a contrarian strategy or positioning exploring what an aggressive competitor might do - perhaps using AI?
5. Scan the horizon regularly for new market challenges (or challengers)

The article goes deeper on each and also calls out that these suggestions may not seem groundbreaking, but they are easy to push aside, especially when things are going well.

And particularly, for us, when we’re isolated in our own echo chamber.

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Check out the full article HERE.

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💡

-Wes