Why do people flock to something? What creates an edge, an advantage, a moat? How do things win, or at least survive, in a highly competitive landscape?
Organisms, people, products, organizations, networks. All are able to overcome competitors and accumulate energy by developing strengths along certain vectors.
Successful things tend to optimize competency on a narrow set of strategies, often a unique and unusual combination of strategies. Here are eighty such strategies, grouped in broad categories, with examples from biology and business.
Accumulation
Strategy
Description
Examples
Usership
A critical mass of users, network effect
Phone system, the internet, scaled social networks
Completeness
All-in-one tool, one-stop shop
Swiss army knife, Walmart
Aggregation
An environment or marketplace designed for broad participation
Cities, malls, Amazon, Craigslist
Diversification
Low-dependency on any one stream of resources
Conglomerates, omnivores
Omnipresence
Available everywhere it might be needed, accepted by default
Visa, Coca-Cola, dandelions
Cloning
Expands by replicating identical copies of itself
Aspen groves, franchises, sourdough starters
Price
Strategy
Description
Examples
Affordability
Comparatively low-cost
Mass production, fast food, fast fashion
Luxury
Intentionally high-cost, often labor-intensive, or status symbol
Veblen goods, supercars, luxury watches
Skimming
Ingests a large volume of very small transactions or resources
Credit cards, baleen whales, planktivores
Bundling
Packaged freely with something desirable
Microsoft Office, cable channels, seeds in a fruit
Time
Strategy
Description
Examples
Heritage
Multi-generational legacy
Religions, old companies
Craftsmanship
Uses more time, precision, and attention to detail than competitors
Handmade watches, bespoke tailoring, Leica
Organic
Natural growth process that cannot be accelerated
Trees, ecosystems, aged cheeses
Endurance
Ability to operate continuously over a long period of time
Marathon runners, nuclear submarines
Uniqueness
Strategy
Description
Examples
Specialization
Strong competence in a narrow niche
Trade schools, pandas
Versatility
General competence adapted to many tasks
CPUs, opposable thumbs
Hybrid
Competence in two distinct areas, or blending of two strengths not usually found together
Frogs, cronuts, amphibious vehicles, hybrid cars
Divergence
Creativity, unusualness, differentiation from the norm
Van Gogh, Picasso, Frank Gehry
Authenticity
Traceable to its source, especially where counterfeiting is prevalent
Money, olive oil, art
Rarity
Naturally limited in quantity, at the edge of the distribution curve
Beachfront property, Victor Wembanyama
Scarcity
Artificially limited in quantity
Collectibles, NFTs
Secrecy
Made difficult to copy by protecting private knowledge, or combining components in a way that cannot be disentangled
Magicians, Coca-Cola, trade secrets
Irreverence
Contrarian, counter-cultural, disregard for tradition
Richard Branson, South Park
Offense
Strategy
Description
Examples
Violence
Destroys or consumes the opponent through physical force
Military attacks, predators
Litigation
Weakens opponents through legal burden
Patent trolls, lawsuits, Mickey Mouse
Nettlesomeness
Causes the opponent to make mistakes
Magnus Carlsen, terrorism
Sabotage
Creates weaknesses in the opponent’s structure or defenses
Stuxnet, cutting undersea cables
Parasitism
Extracts or hijacks resources from a host
Mosquitos, tapeworm
Scavenging
Opportunistically ingests dying or weakened prey
Private equity, vultures
Espionage
Acquires enemy secrets
Spies
Swarming
Concentrated attack from a mass of individually weak agents
Bees, DDOS attacks, Zerg rush
Highest bidder
Overpays or outbids competitors to secure exclusivity
Real Madrid, Softbank, art collectors
Chokepoint
Controls a passage that competitors or prey must pass through
Suez Canal, grizzlies at a waterfall
Puppeteering
Takes over a host’s behavior and directs it to serve you
Cordyceps, toxoplasma
Defense
Strategy
Description
Examples
Deterrence
Mutually assured destruction, projecting fear of violence or litigation
Nuclear weapons, trademarks, patents
Reliability
Reduces maintenance costs, minimizes downtime
Zippo lighters, Toyota cars
Predictability
Repeatable process with little deviation to create a consistent product or experience
Disneyland, Starbucks
Unpredictability
Creating an element of surprise, confusion, or variability
Squid ink, smoke screen, Banksy, Lady Gaga
Decentralization
Redundancy and distributed competency to reduce single points of failure
Solar power, grassroots movements
Security
Resistance to theft, confiscation, unwanted access
Banks, vaults, locks
Privacy
Protection against unwanted information disclosure
Encrypted messaging apps, VPNs
Durability
Physical robustness, resistance to damage, or injury
LeBron James, cast iron skillets
Neutrality
Displays long-term non-belligerence, a safe haven
Switzerland, Red Cross
Obscurity
Survival by remaining unknown or undetected
Deep-sea creatures, closed-source software
Antifragility
Becomes stronger when exposed to stress or usage
BitTorrent, muscles
Deception
Strategy
Description
Examples
Camouflage
Ability to blend into the surrounding environment
Chameleons, stealth aircraft
Mimicry
Superficially adopts characteristics of another species to trick opponents
Harmless snakes mimicking venomous ones
Decoy
Distracts or misleads adversaries
Chaff, fake security cameras
Lure
Preys on other organisms by setting attractive traps
Anglerfish, honeypot
Infiltration
Gets past defenses without notice
Trojan horse, malware, smuggling
Timing
Strategy
Description
Examples
First-mover
Acts first to gain an advantage
Netflix, Tesla
Second-mover
Fast-follower, moves quickly to copy the first-mover
Facebook-Snapchat
Last-mover
Waits until all opponents have expended energy on failed approaches
Apple
Accreditation
Strategy
Description
Examples
Monopoly
Artificial control of a resource or market approved by the governing body
Patents, regulatory capture
Prestige
Endorsed by authoritative sources via awards, degrees, or other recognition
Michelin-starred restaurants, Ivy League graduates
Curation
Selectiveness, particular ability in choosing and grouping
Art galleries, HBO, venture capital
Collaboration
Strategy
Description
Examples
Union
Reduce friction between potential competitors by adopting a common set of rules
Mergers and acquisitions, United States, European Union
Alliance
Partnership that enables some benefits of a union while maintaining independence
Partnerships
Emergence
Hive mind, wisdom of the crowd
Ant colonies, beehives, democracy
Centralization
Single decision-making entity
Dictatorships
Standardization
Emergent alignment that reduces friction
Language, railway gauge, metric system
Symbiosis
Mutually beneficial dependency between two organisms
Two-party political system, fig wasp
Herding
Grouping of many individuals to protect against larger or dangerous competitors
Trade associations, school of fish
Distributed ownership
Owned by the community
REI Co-op, Green Bay Packers
Transparency
Open and visible process or inner workings that encourages trust
Open-source software
Speed and scale
Strategy
Description
Examples
Iteration
Ability to iterate and change quickly, shortening the cycle time between improvements
SpaceX
Efficiency
Uses a low amount of energy or resources to perform similar capabilities to competitors
LED bulbs
Agility
Nimbleness, easily adapts to a changing environment
Gymnasts, squirrels, go-karts
Precision
High level of accuracy and exactness in performance or output
Swiss watches, CNC machining
Blitzing
Sudden attack, expending intense resources in a concentrated manner
Hostile takeovers, blitz marketing campaigns
Composability
Ability to assemble components and systems in different configurations
APIs, Stripe
Modularity
Composed of independent units that can be used in different combinations
LEGO, prefab buildings
Ease
Strategy
Description
Examples
Intuitiveness
Ease of use and understanding, without explicit instruction
Dieter Rams designs
Fun
Provides enjoyment and amusement
Video games, amusement parks, Duolingo
Simplicity
Limited points of failure, minimalistic design
Hammer, MUJI
Low-friction
Minimal resistance or hassle in use or interaction
One-click ordering
Charm
Charisma, ability to create loyalty and warmth through delightful personality or aesthetics
Oprah Winfrey, Paris
Transformation
Strategy
Description
Examples
Malleability
Ability to change appearance or form, can be modified or customized easily
Clay, software code, method actors
Metamorphosis
Transforms between states optimized for different functions or environments