One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is how often humans exhibit lemming-like behavior. Someone figures out a new way of doing things. A new technology appears. A new class of research papers appears. A new type of company proves to be successful. Within a few days or weeks, everyone dives on this new opportunity and starts to compete with everyone else. In my experience, by the time you hear about it, everyone has heard about it and it’s too late. To quote Mark Twain: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” In their book Blue Ocean Strategy, the authors make exactly this point: most companies and individuals operate in the red ocean where there is blood in the water because of all the sharks that are trying to kill each other. Most companies live in a highly competitive market and basically duke it out continuously to very little effect. I think that this is a humongous waste of everyone’s time and life energy. In the words of Peter Thiel, competition is for losers. Instead you want to find a creative monopoly, at least temporarily, by focusing your energy on new innovations, approaches or ways of working that give you benefit. So, as my challenge to you today: where are you swimming in a red ocean? And how do you get out?