In good times you should never blindly follow the herd. But this is even more relevant during bad times. As Albert Einstein famously said, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result". To develop lasting competitive advantages and provide new, unexpected value for your customers, it is critical to think and act differently from your competitors. You have to reinvent the game.

A contrarian is someone does not mindlessly imitate the competition or follows popular opinion or practice. A contrarian challenges the conventional wisdom and "zigs when others zag". Dr. O discusses the importance of having a contrarian mindset and levering the tenets of Maneuver Warfare to succeed in business by confusing competitors and exciting customers.