Imaginary Competition

The September issue of Inc. Magazine has a great interview with John Kotter on strategy.  He mentioned an exercise corporate leaders sometimes go through that I think is brilliant.

Pull together a group of employees and create an imaginary company.  Then tell the team, “you are the management of that company and your job is to kill our company.”  So the team puts together a plan that leverages every single weak point in your firm.  That is the morning exercise.  In the afternoon, the team reconvenes and talks about how they are going to counter attack.  What a great way to look at your compay through a different set of eyes.  You also end up with a list of improvements to make to your company.  After all, your competition is out there already planning on how to win your market share.  You might as well beat them to the punch.