The legendary Amazon practice of leaving an empty chair for the customer in every meeting is a powerful reminder of who you're building for. It forces every decision to be viewed through the lens of customer value. But in today's hyper-competitive landscape, I argue there's a second empty chair that's just as important: the one for your competitor.
This isn't about letting them dictate your strategy. It's about stress-testing your decisions against their likely reactions. It's a 'Red Team' exercise for your business strategy. When you decide to raise prices, what will the 'competitor in the chair' do? Will they hold firm, follow your lead, or aggressively undercut you to steal market share? Your answer should inform your rollout plan.
When you launch a new feature, how will they respond? Will they dismiss it publicly? Will they rush to copy it? Or will they pivot to highlight a different value proposition where they are stronger? Bringing this 'voice' into the room forces you to think a step ahead. It turns your strategy from a one-dimensional plan into a dynamic, multi-dimensional game of chess.
Of course, this 'voice' can't be based on guesswork or past assumptions. It must be fueled by real, timely intelligence. Tracking their hiring patterns, website messaging changes, and product updates gives you the data to build a predictive model of their behavior. When you can say, 'Based on their last three pricing changes, they're likely to hold their price but add a new bundled service to justify it,' you're no longer just planning; you're strategizing in 4D. You're anticipating the game, not just playing your turn.