Most businesses believe they are trying to win. In reality, they are designed to compete. They optimise relentlessly against rivals, respond quickly to market signals, benchmark obsessively, and refine execution year after year. This creates motion, discipline, and the appearance of progress. But it rarely produces decisive advantage. Over time, competing well becomes a substitute for winning outright.

As businesses enter 2026, a structural paradox is becoming difficult to ignore. Growth is increasingly attainable. Markets are more accessible, experimentation is faster, and expansion is no longer constrained in the ways it once was. Yet at the same time, running a business has become more demanding, slower, and more fragile—even in organizations that are growing.