Are you playing to play, or playing to win?

Um manifesto é sempre um apelo, uma chamada, um desafio.
Os trechos que se seguem, foram retirados do primeiro capítulo (Hardball Manifesto) do livro "Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win".

"Above all, hardball players play to win. They employ strategies that will gain them competitive advantage, which in turn will bring them substantial sales margins, above -average profit margins and earnings, lower-than-average debt, higher-thanaverage credit ratings, and most important, leading market share."

"Hardball players don’t settle for competitive advantage, however. As they build revenues, profits, and market share, they also relentlessly cut costs, improve systems, and introduce new products and services to draw new customers in. Their goal is to strengthen their competitive advantage until it becomes so decisive they are able to set the agenda and pace of innovation in their industry. But because they continue to feed the virtuous cycle, they never sit on their lead and usually enjoy a much-longer-than-average lifespan." Todos os dias, nunca parar. Parar é ficar para trás!!!

"Hardball players create competitive advantage and build it into decisive advantage by keeping their focus on the heart of the matter—a very small set of vital issues whose resolution will determine the future of the organization. Hardball leaders get their people to deal with the heart of the matter and do not allow them to get distracted from it." Concentração no que é essencial!!!

"They focus relentlessly on competitive advantage. The history of business is littered with the remains of companies whose competitive advantage, once robust, has withered away. Hardball players strive to continually widen the performance gap between themselves and competitors. They are not satisfied with today’s competitive advantage—they want tomorrow’s.

Hardball players believe in empirically proven advantage. They know what their advantage is and exploit it relentlessly. They don’t deceive themselves or cheat.
They measure their competitive advantage and differentiate theirs from their competitors. Softball players talk about competitive advantage, but few of them are able to put a finger on exactly what theirs is or quantify it."

"To achieve competitive advantage, people must be action-oriented, always impatient with the status quo."

Hardball players jogam duro, mas jogam limpo. Não dão abébias, não colocam a fasquia em baixo, têm instinto de matador.
Hardball players expulsam do mercado concorrentes que não evoluiram, permitindo que a sociedade aplique melhor os seus escassos recursos, em apostas competitivas bem sucedidas.