In 1987 I used Microsoft Word for the first time. It was bad. Functional, but unintuitive and hard to use. WordPerfect owned the market and Microsoft was still trying to get a foothold. Fast forward 10 years to 1997. Word is much easier to use, still difficult for a beginner, but much better. WordPerfect is fading fast and all but non-existant. Fast forward 10 more years to 2007. WordPerfect? What is that? Microsoft Word is hands down the king of the word processor market and for good reason. The application is clean, powerful and easy to use by almost anyone.

Same story with Outlook. When Microsoft Outlook first came out it was big, bloated, slow and clumsy. I hated it. I said I would never, ever use it. If there were an “I hate Outlook” club, I probably would have joined. Outlook today, however, is clean, powerful and delightful to use. It is the type of application that makes people want to use a computer. Had I joined the “I hate Outlook club, I’m afraid I would have to withdraw my membership.

There are dominant people and organizations in all facets of life. Last night, for instance, we were at the softball fields. There is a team that plays in our league that is, well, to be honest, way out of our league. They literally look like a professional team on the field. A lot of people don’t like that. They are critical, even offended by these guys. However, the fact is that this guys have earned their level of excellence. They have been together for a long, long time. They play hard. They are serious. They practice and they recruit the best. Yes, this is church league softball that I’m talking about, but the rules are the same for everyone. Any team in the league has the right to play at the same level as Patton; most, however, choose not to and that is their choice. Patton has looked beyond our local church league and has set their sights on winning the national tournaments.

Back to Microsoft. Yes, it’s true, that they have deep, deep pockets, but the lesson goes further than that. Microsoft has not always been a powerhouse. They started as two hardworking guys playing to win. They play hard and they don’t give up. Yes, they seem to bend the rules from time-to-time, but we have umpires in this league too. Several years ago several companies called “foul!” So, the umpires reviewed the tapes, looked at the plays, held meetings and ruled in favor of Microsoft. We can all gripe and moan, but that won’t help us beat them.  They are a powerhouse because they play hard and they earned it.

Back to softball. There’s another team in our league that is serious about the game. Last year they set their sites on Patton. They didn’t beat them, but they definitely gave them a run for their money. This year, they are even tougher. They look sharp on the field, they communicate clearly and they play hard. They are quickly becoming a serious threat to Patton’s undisputed rule of the ball field.

Google has done the same thing to Microsoft. In the late 1990’s they showed up in an already crowed Internet search market. They were simple, clean and very well put together. In short order they stole the entire market for Internet search, one that even Microsoft was playing hard to win. The story doesn’t end there, however. Google, came to play ball and they took the entire game to a new level. They continued to refine their process and eventually turned Internet search, a free product, into a revenue generating cash cow. Next, they set their sites on offering Internet based products that would compete with desktop products such as Word and Excel. Today, Google is a very serious threat to Microsoft and by many people standards has already surpassed them as the top dog on the block.

The lesson here is that we all have the opportunity to compete no matter how big and strong the competition is. The rules are the same for everyone. It’s just that not everyone is willing to pay the price that it takes to end up on top.

So ask yourself, Who is my Microsoft? Who is it that dominates my league? Who is it that has been around so long and is so powerful that no one can touch them? Then, look at what you’ve got to offer. Why does your offering fall short of the king of your league? Why are they beating you time and time again? Be honest, then go back to the drawing board and decide what you’re going to do about it.

Don’t give up before you start. You can win this game, but you’ve got to work hard at it, be smart and you’ve got to come to win. Create a clean solid offering that nails the expectations of your market. Then, expand on that offering; steadily adding to its value.

There are no untouchables out there; only well established, hard to beat competitors. As I said before, the rules are the same for everyone and everyone has the right to try as hard as they can. Good intentions won't do it. You have to be serious. You have to play hard and you have to come to win. So don't give up.

Lookout Patton. There’s a new ball team in town and they came to win.