Convince Me

You should never assume that you’re entitled to anyone’s good opinion.

People so, so often forget about the “Silent Competitor.” The other choices that may arrive if you take too much of someone for granted, even if that option isn’t visible now.

For a good chunk of time, Netflix was the only streaming platform of its type. Some people claimed that it was a monopoly and feared massive price hikes. But the “Silent Competitor” is always lurking. What is it? It can take many forms – other streaming services that can pop up if Netflix gets too complacent (and hey, this is exactly what did happen; now there are seemingly dozens), or even just… not using Netflix. Shocker, but you can survive without it.

When companies hire, I often see them making the mistake of assuming that because they’re the ones hiring, they’re also the ones with all the cards. As if they needed nothing. But if that was the case, why hire at all? This isn’t charity, you need someone to do a job. And you’d clearly rather get someone great at it than someone mediocre, all else considered. Well guess what – the Silent Competitor is there. That person can work somewhere else. Or even not work (for a while, anyway)!

Never take your position for granted. You need to convince everyone, all the time, to engage with you. And if you forget that, they won’t.