Blue Ocean Strategy - A book review

An Ocean is a very large expanse of the sea , it is vast and its depth is still being revisited by man every time. I’m sure most of us know why the ocean is blue.. its for simple reason of the sun’s white light entering the ocean & blue getting returned. The are portions of light like red , orange and yellow that just gets absorbed so some times you could possibly see a red ocean. In the market universe imagine 2 sorts of oceans Red & Blue. Red ocean represents the industries existing today and blue oceans represent industries not in existence today i.e known and unknown markets.

Competition does exists in industries ….especially in known markets…it becomes red due to the fight cause of the shrinking pool of profit. One may ask if this happens in a monopoly or oligopoly market? The fact remains as to how does one create an uncontested market space and make competition Irrelevant.

W Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne makes an attempt to provide a systematic approach to making competition irrelevant in their book.This is definitely a blue ocean as most studies done in the past was based on company and industries. Here with a study 150 strategic move spanning 130+ years they have tried to help in providing ways to create blue oceans and their impacts.

The key here is Strategic Move which is the set of actions and decisions involved in making major market creating a business offering.

In this book one would dwell in cornerstone of blue ocean strategy which is Value Innovation, which focus’s on making competition irrelevant by creating value for the buyer & company.As you read along you would find it interesting as the book does introduces the tools and frameworks for creating blue oceans , In addition to this the 4 guiding principles for successful formulation looking across 6 conventional boundaries. Strategy does involve both opportunity and risk. The book uses visualization approach towards tackling risk which helps to create a blue ocean and also to maximize it.They say strategy is in the design which addresses business model risk and the sequence to create the strategy. The book then talks about leadership and introduces the concept of tipping point leadership which help leaders and managers to overcome hurdles which is a key to creating, sustaining and renewing blue oceans.

I would recommend reading this book if you want ideas and anecdotes and think there is a process to strategy.I’m looking forward to reading hopefully the part 2 of Blue Ocean Strategy and Blue Ocean Shift where more companies would have been analysed especially in the digital era of technology(2000–2020) and blue oceans designed ,created, implemented &justified with outcomes and there by find a company or industry which is perpetually excellent.

How I met my wife ??

I always wanted to write about how I met my wife to be though it was not a Love story, it ended up being one... This was way back when I was in Jersey city and as the Indian custom goes, my parents were looking out for a “girl” for me. They happen to get a match through the “horoscope” process. I’m sure the horoscope process would be an interesting read but mine was “horror “ scope of filters.

First the horoscope , then  the region , the family , the  education etc.. oh my God what not! I did tell my parents that I’d like to see and talk to the girl before I decide. They were OK. So it was to be “Video-webcam meeting... the good old yahoo messenger days”.

 

I was in Jersey and she was in Chennai then. We did schedule a time , however for some reason she could not make it. We did reschedule again, and again she did not make it. I did wonder why... I just wrote her an email asking if she was serious about this and if she was not to just let me know. Clicked send! No response... I figured out may be it was in the email I sent.

 

As luck would have had it , I did not see further traction on the proposals. I decided to go to India and test my luck. My dad called her parents and they said “No, they were working on something else”. The custom is then to return the photograph and part ways .My parents decided to go all guns as they thought I would run away to the US—the country that I loved—without getting married. They thought it was their responsibility to see me married off. So they advertised in the newspapers with a P.O.box. They went online when the .com portals just started, they also registered in various marriage bureaus. As luck would had it—many proposals, only 10 horoscope matches, 5 matches with region and family, 2 for a working professional... and then just 1... It was her. I still did not meet any girl for marriage yet. My parents called her parents again after the newspaper response.

 

Her parents replied back mentioning “something else has come up knowing that it was me”. Nothing worked out for a year, I still did not meet anyone in person for marriage. I finally decided to get back to US and my visa interview was scheduled. It’s so happened that one of my school friend’s parents stopped by to check on me as to when I would leave to the US as they had a parcel for their son. I did tell the uncle that my visa interview is just scheduled. He made a comment “All you guys need is to be more responsible, you leave your parents and you all go to the US and then find someone there and never come back”. To which I replied “I’m ready to get married. Do you have a girl in mind?” Immediately he mentioned there was someone he knew that was looking for a boy.

 

This could be just a coincidence, but it happened to be her. She was still in Chennai and I was in Bangalore and we never met. Since the visa stamping was in Chennai, the uncle suggested that he would talk to her parents and we could possibly meet with no obligations. Her parents agreed  I flew to Chennai, we met at Barista Coffee and we just connected and decided—yes,  we will be. The rest is history, marriages are made in heaven... The only girl I met in person for  marriage I did marry finally.

-published for newsletter in Feb 2019