Stop aiming to compete and design your category so you dominate

Competing head‑to‑head locks you into other people’s rules. You copy their features, mirror their timelines, and wonder why you blend in. Category leaders don’t just play the game better, they change the game so winning looks different. They reject at least one industry norm and replace it with an “only practice”—a behavior rivals can’t or won’t match.

Think of a local firm that called every prospect back within ten minutes, no matter what. They didn’t merely brag about speed; they posted daily response‑time screenshots and manager callbacks after demos. Soon, “ten‑minute call‑back” became a phrase in the market. Prospects repeated it back unprompted because it solved a specific pain: “No one gets back to me.” This wasn’t a tagline, it was a designed advantage woven into systems and staffing.

Another micro‑example: a freelancer offered same‑day sketch sprints for new projects. She knew most designers hid behind long discovery phases. She posted timestamped before/afters. Within months, “sketch sprint” was her category, and clients came for that, not generic design.

Strategically, this is category design and “only practices,” not best practices. You name the problem, name your unique approach, and pound it into the market with proof until people connect your name to that solution. Share of mind precedes share of market. By refusing old rules and amplifying your own, you move from competing to being the default choice.

Write down three tired norms in your space that you’ll refuse to follow, then design one “only practice” that rivals won’t match—make it measurable and loudly visible. Coin a simple phrase for your approach, attach it to a painful problem, and flood your niche with timestamped proof until customers repeat the phrase back to you. Put the first proof post on your calendar for Friday and assign one owner to monitor and report the metric daily.