0 saved
8.4K views
You're improving, learning, getting faster, achieving more and getting ahead? No, you're not. Because everyone else is as well.
...Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Simus igitur contenti his. Hoc ille tuus non vult omnibusque ex rebus voluptatem quasi mercedem exigit. Utinam quidem dicerent alium alio beatiorem! Iam ruinas videres. Semper enim ita adsumit aliquid, ut ea, quae prima dederit, non deserat. Indicant pueri, in quibus ut in speculis natura cernitur. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Eorum enim est haec querela, qui sibi cari sunt seseque diligunt. Vide igitur ne non debeas verbis nostris uti, sententiis tuis. Primum cur ista res digna odio est, nisi quod est turpis? Beatus sibi videtur esse moriens. Ita fit beatae vitae domina fortuna, quam Epicurus ait exiguam intervenire sapienti.
Roges enim Aristonem, bonane ei videantur haec: vacuitas doloris, divitiae, valitudo; Qui autem voluptate vitam effici beatam putabit, qui sibi is conveniet, si negabit voluptatem crescere longinquitate? An est aliquid per se ipsum flagitiosum, etiamsi nulla comitetur infamia? Quis non odit sordidos, vanos, leves, futtiles? Sed utrum hortandus es nobis, Luci, inquit, an etiam tua sponte propensus es? Positum est a nostris in iis esse rebus, quae secundum naturam essent, non dolere; Equidem etiam Epicurum, in physicis quidem, Democriteum puto. Igitur neque stultorum quisquam beatus neque sapientium non beatus. At ille pellit, qui permulcet sensum voluptate. Quam illa ardentis amores excitaret sui! Cur tandem?
Quo plebiscito decreta a senatu est consuli quaestio Cn. Vidit Homerus probari fabulam non posse, si cantiunculis tantus irretitus vir teneretur; Huius ego nunc auctoritatem sequens idem faciam. At, illa, ut vobis placet, partem quandam tuetur, reliquam deserit. Nondum autem explanatum satis, erat, quid maxime natura vellet. Multoque hoc melius nos veriusque quam Stoici. Duo enim genera quae erant, fecit tria.
- Research your competition
You cannot become better than your competitor if you are not aware of their st ...
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nosti, credo, illud: Nemo pius est, qui pietatem-; Ita graviter et severe voluptatem secrevit a bono. Isto modo ne improbos quidem, si essent boni viri. Ut optime, secundum naturam affectum esse possit. Iam in altera philosophiae parte. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Idem fecisset Epicurus, si sententiam hanc, quae nunc Hieronymi est, coniunxisset cum Aristippi vetere sententia. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Hoc ne statuam quidem dicturam pater aiebat, si loqui posset.
Et nemo nimium beatus est; Dolere malum est: in crucem qui agitur, beatus esse non potest. Sed quanta sit alias, nunc tantum possitne esse tanta. Illa videamus, quae a te de amicitia dicta sunt. Ut in geometria, prima si dederis, danda sunt omnia. Atque his de rebus et splendida est eorum et illustris oratio. An ea, quae per vinitorem antea consequebatur, per se ipsa curabit? Cur igitur, cum de re conveniat, non malumus usitate loqui? Ergo opifex plus sibi proponet ad formarum quam civis excellens ad factorum pulchritudinem? Quid affers, cur Thorius, cur Caius Postumius, cur omnium horum magister, Orata, non iucundissime vixerit?
Velut ego nunc moveor. Sed quod proximum fuit non vidit. Nam et a te perfici istam disputationem volo, nec tua mihi oratio longa videri potest. Philosophi autem in suis lectulis plerumque moriuntur. At cum de plurimis eadem dicit, tum certe de maximis. Ergo in gubernando nihil, in officio plurimum interest, quo in genere peccetur. Quorum altera prosunt, nocent altera.
Being aware of the Red Queen Effect is not enough to guarantee success. Once you have come up with a concept that is foreign to your competition, you need to make sure you can move the new product or service past the idea phase, which usually requires capital, know-how, and the willingness to take risks.
The evolutionary ‘arms race’.
In the Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins describes the “unequal cost of failure” in the evolutionary ‘arms race’. He describes the life/dinner principle captured in Aesop’s fables: “The rabbit runs faster than the fox, because the rabbit is running for his life while the fox is only running for his dinner.” There is a linked push to evolve and improve, with better adaptation in one species driving the other to make its own ‘leap forward’ to survive.
Buffet and developments in the textile industry.
The Farnam St Blog outlines the Red Queen Effect in some detail and includes the story of Buffett's approach to investing in the textile industry. Buffet wrote:
“Over the years, we had the option of making large capital expenditures in the textile operation that would have allowed us to somewhat reduce variable costs. But the promised benefits from these textile investments were illusory. Many of our competitors, both domestic and foreign, were stepping up to the same kind of expenditures and, once enough companies did so, their reduced costs became the baseline for reduced prices industrywide.
“Viewed individually, each company’s capital investment decision appeared cost-effective and rational; viewed collectively, the decisions neutralized each other and were irrational (just as happens when each person watching a parade decides he can see a little better if he stands on tiptoes). After each round of investment, all the players had more money in the game and returns remained anemic.”
While the Red Queen effect arose from biology, it can be applied to competition and innovation in other domains.
Use the following examples of connected and complementary models to weave the Red Queen effect into your broader latticework of mental models. Alternatively, discover your own connections by exploring the category list above.
Connected models:
- Mutually assured destruction: the Red Queen effect can be seen as a lens to understand the cold war.
- Blue ocean strategy: to consider changing the game rather than running faster.
Complementary models:
- Catalyst: in identifying rapid change opportunities over progressive development.
The name of this concept originated from Lewis Carroll’s famous sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, where Alice observes that she needs to run faster and faster just to stay in the same place; the Red Queen’s reply to Alice’s perplexity is ‘Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!’
Evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Halen proposed the Red Queen hypothesis in 1973 to describe the constant race that co-evolving species engage in order to survive in a constantly changing environment populated with opposing organisms.
My Notes
Oops, That’s Members’ Only!
Fortunately, it only costs US$5/month to Join ModelThinkers and access everything so that you can rapidly discover, learn, and apply the world’s most powerful ideas.
ModelThinkers membership at a glance:
“Yeah, we hate pop ups too. But we wanted to let you know that, with ModelThinkers, we’re making it easier for you to adapt, innovate and create value. We hope you’ll join us and the growing community of ModelThinkers today.”
You Might Also Like:
- Actionable summaries of the world's most powerful ideas.
Subscribe now and download this practical guide to transform your thinking, plus recieve one short, powerful and actionable idea in your inbox each month.