OCID: Obsessive Competitive Intelligence Disorder

Competitive intelligenceFun
Written By Guest User

Obsessive Competitive Intelligence Disorder, or OCID, is a little-known condition that affects many competitive intelligence analysts. OCID sufferers see competitive intelligence everywhere, all the time. They obsess about how random information from everyday life could be useful in a hypothetical research project that does not even exist. They think up of overly complicated ways of obtaining information, if only some visionary client would pay for that. Like the boy with the sixth sense who saw dead people, they see data, everywhere.

If you have OCID, this image below is not Pret A Manger's generous Christmas appeal - it is competitive intelligence about their sales figures.

If you have OCID, these are not mortgage rates for buying a beautiful new home, but competitive intelligence about financial products.

banks competitor research

And this is not an advertisement for a beautiful book, but rather information about The Folio Society's expected revenues.

books competitor information

Everywhere they look, OCID sufferers see intelligence data. Many competitive intelligence analysts have to live under the shadow of this obsession. Please spare a thought for them.

 
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Competitive intelligence is a key part of strategy for B2B SaaS companies. Product teams need it to shape roadmaps, marketing teams need it to sharpen positioning, and sales teams need it to win deals.

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