No Bullsh!t Leadership The Biggest Lie in Business: Strategy Happens at the Top
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Mar 17, 2026 They unpack why competitive advantage is forged in the middle layers, not just at the top. The conversation covers how quickly advantages erode and which types copy fastest. There’s attention on people, culture and leadership as the most durable edges. Practical tips focus on how back-office and customer-facing teams can actually create advantage every day.
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Competitive Advantages Are Short Lived
- Competitive advantages are fleeting, typically lasting 3–7 years before reverting to the industry mean.
- Martin G Moore cites Harvard Business School research and notes faster erosion today due to accelerated change and wider access to information.
People And Culture Give The Most Durable Advantage
- Different sources of advantage have different erosion lags: price advantages dissolve in weeks while people/culture advantages can last seven years or more.
- Moore explains price is easy to copy, manufacturing/distribution now copyable, but culture requires leadership to sustain.
Apply Five Rules To Protect Advantage
- Follow McKinsey's five rules: be granular about attributes, tailor advantages to markets, avoid overinvesting, embed advantages into decisions, and track market metrics.
- Moore highlights market-level tracking like shuffle rate, investment flows, and cross-industry acquisitions.