Topic Cluster

Market

‘Market’ is a shorthand for ‘factors influencing the market’, which is one of the three legs of triad mental model of business expertise. If you don’t know what that is, read this page first.

The ‘Market’ topic cluster includes strategic adversarial thinking, though large bits of strategy also involve operating well. The big framework in the Market topic cluster is the 7 Powers framework by Hamilton Helmer. But Market covers other things. For instance, you need to understand the shape of the game you’re playing —  which in turn means a deep understanding of your customers, your competitors, your positioning against those competitors, the threat of new entrants, and how that can change over time. We also cover thinking methods that make it slightly easier to reason about adversarial competition (particularly in a business context).

7 Powers

7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer is probably the best framework we have right now for thinking about competition in business. You may treat the following series of articles as a loose cluster of ideas around the framework.

Series and Guides

  • The Incentive Series — How do you use incentives as a method to understanding customer behaviour (in order to sell to said customers)? This series tells the story of a multi-year attempt to sell to the food & beverage (F&B) industry, and how understanding F&B industry incentives eventually helped us crack that nut.

Notable Articles

Some notable Commoncog pieces in the Market topic cluster.

‘Market’ is a shorthand for ‘factors influencing the market’, which is one of the three legs of triad mental model of business expertise. If you don’t know what that is, read this page first.

The ‘Market’ topic cluster includes strategic adversarial thinking, though large bits of strategy also involve operating well. The big framework in the Market topic cluster is the 7 Powers framework by Hamilton Helmer. But Market covers other things. For instance, you need to understand the shape of the game you’re playing —  which in turn means a deep understanding of your customers, your competitors, your positioning against those competitors, the threat of new entrants, and how that can change over time. We also cover thinking methods that make it slightly easier to reason about adversarial competition (particularly in a business context).

7 Powers

7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer is probably the best framework we have right now for thinking about competition in business. You may treat the following series of articles as a loose cluster of ideas around the framework.

This topic overview was last updated .

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Articles //  Page 2

Feature image for Understand the Shape of the Game You're Playing

Understand the Shape of the Game You're Playing

What it looks like when you come up with a diagnosis for your business, a thing that is necessary for strategy.

 Members only
Feature image for There Is No Truth in Business, Only Knowledge

There Is No Truth in Business, Only Knowledge

'Knowledge' here is defined as 'theories or models that help you predict better'. How an idea from W. Edwards Deming may well be a working philosophy of business.

Feature image for The Shape of a Technological Window

The Shape of a Technological Window

Technological Windows is Steve Jobs's conception of the game of consumer technology. We look at how he used it over the course of his career. Note: this is a follow-up to and an update for the Commoncog Case Library Beta.

Feature image for Is This a Moat: Mailchimp and PayPal’s Algorithmic Advantage

Is This a Moat: Mailchimp and PayPal’s Algorithmic Advantage

Two case studies of real world competitive advantage, followed by a question: was this a moat or not?

 Members only
Feature image for Dancing Landscapes in Business

Dancing Landscapes in Business

Cognitive Flexibility Theory creator Rand Spiro on what complexity theory has to say about the wickedness of business.

Feature image for Cultural Advantage is Counter Positioning

Cultural Advantage is Counter Positioning

Competitive advantages in business that come from cultural differences tend to be counter-positioning, not process power. Why this is surprising, and why it matters.

 Members only
Feature image for The Best Incentives Are Hard To Copy

The Best Incentives Are Hard To Copy

If your incentive set leads to differentiated behaviour, why don't more competitors copy it? Because it's hard to copy, that's why. Here are two reasons how.

 Members only
Feature image for Pay Attention to Deviations from Mainstream Incentives

Pay Attention to Deviations from Mainstream Incentives

The second part of a three part piece on incentives. It turns out that if you've grokked the primary incentives of an industry, you can do one other thing: identify aberrations, and use that as a guide to dig further.

Feature image for Lousy Incentives In The Restaurant Business

Lousy Incentives In The Restaurant Business

What an understanding of incentives can do for you, through the lens of one industry that we're all familiar with.

 Members only
Feature image for The Dangers of Treating Life as a Game

The Dangers of Treating Life as a Game

Game analogies can be helpful when you're playing to win. But there's a limit to how useful they can be when thinking about life.