This needs to be said every day...

I checked my LinkedIn front page this morning to find this update posted by a contact of a friend of mine: "Great meeting with a Danish customer today. They had some timeless advice for marketers I wanted to share: simplicity is valuable, the only person you hurt when you badmouth the competition is yourself, "do what you say" and share your failures as well as your successes."

This isn't necessarily related to Performance Improvement, but I found this notable, because it's how I think about competitiveness in business. Sure you have to keep your eyes out for competitors and change in your industry. But the best strategy is to mind your own ship, and not try to improve through simple 1-to-1 comparisons of yourself and your opponents. If you take that focus, and your marketing is clear and easy to understand, your clients will start coming to you.