In a hyper-competitive market, doing the same thing louder doesn’t work. The Strategic Change Up is when a company suddenly alters its value proposition. Consider Netflix: They threw a massive change up in 2007 when they shifted from mailing DVDs to streaming. Investors thought they were insane. Blockbuster, stuck on the fastball of brick-and-mortar rentals, swung and missed entirely.
On a personal career level, The Change Up might mean taking a lateral move for better long-term learning instead of chasing a promotion. It means slowing down your output to increase the quality, confusing the competition who expected you to burn out. The Change Up
Case Study 1: The Startup Pivot Slack began as a video game company called Tiny Speck. The game failed. Instead of doubling down on the failing code (the fastball), the founders noticed that the internal communication tool they built to make the game was actually brilliant. They threw a massive change up, abandoned gaming entirely, and became a $20 billion communication platform. In a hyper-competitive market, doing the same thing
Case Study 2: The Athlete At the 2019 Masters golf tournament, Tiger Woods was known for his power driving. But by the final round, his body was broken. He couldn't throw the fastball anymore. He threw a change up: he played safe, laid up on par-fives, and relied on putting. The younger players swung for the fences (fastball) and crashed. Woods won the Green Jacket by changing his pace. Investors thought they were insane
Case Study 3: The Negotiator In a famous hostage negotiation, the FBI negotiator arrived on scene to a man screaming demands. The standard fastball is to talk loudly back, establishing control. The negotiator threw a change up. He sat down on the curb, turned his back slightly, and whispered, "I can't hear you from up here." The sudden shift from aggressive to intimate confused the hostage-taker, who then sat down to listen. The standoff ended peacefully.
What is the one thing you always do? What is your default response to pressure? For a manager, it might be "micromanage." For an employee, it might be "work late." For a parent, it might be "lecture." Write down your most common, predictable reaction.