Assess, Position and Influence (6)

The Chinese have always said that "the marketplace is the battlefield." In the information economy, the order of the marketplace begins with the rule of law. Some battles are fought in Washington DC and other capital cities before it is ever fought in the marketplace. When money is the milk of politics, the state of politics sometimes change. It is the sign of the times.

Here is an example of how the political and economic game is played in Silicon Valley. If one does not have any relevant strategic leverage, the competition will use it against them. As mentioned before, the game begins with the rule of law.

Click this link on a very good NYT article on Google bidding for Nortel Patent Assets :

Google assessed their Big Tangible Picture (BTP) and understood the connectivity of the various influences that encompassed the information economy. That they immediately decided to build a defensive front in order to prevent a potential strategic loss.

To gain "adequate" strategic positioning in ther global marketplace, Google believed that the Nortel telecommunication patents might be the key to dominating the information economy. After all, most of us are connected through our laptops and our smart phones.

It is a better idea to be a patent troll and not to pay a patent troll.

Update: Comprehending the Big Tangible Picture means understanding the PESTO factors of the game. To play the patent game, it starts with a strong base of economics and logistics

The Compass Rules:

• The Big Tangible Picture is based on the connections of relevant points
• Assess the Big Tangible Picture. Build the position. Influence with one's position.
• If one wants to seriously play in any game, he or she must know the game in terms of the rules of the game, the exceptions to the rules, the players, the history, and the current state of the terrain.

Summary

By properly assessing the Big Tangible Picture, Google built their strategic power from a top down view of the terrain. Knowing the connections between their evolving informational economic terrain and their opposition (i.e., their tendencies, their state of performance, etc.) enabled them to quietly sit in their corner and wait for the right moment to strike. There is nothing wrong with patent trolling as long as one is the troll.

Building strategic power begins by understanding the compass process of assessing, positioning and influencing.

A Video Example of Strategic Power

The effectiveness of strategic power becomes relevant when the successful strategist has the competitive disposition to strike at the opposition's weaknesses at the right opportunistic point with surprise, momentum and timing.

Click on this link for another conceptual example of what strategic power is.

Most people like to talk about obeying the rule of law and order in public. However, some of them live by the rule of the jungle.