Struggle as they might, not a single person in the room was able to do it. The assignment sounded simple. Name your unique competitive advantage. Name one quality that truly distinguishes your company from your competitors. Name that one quality that gives your customer a reason to make you the clear choice above your rivals.

I met Jaynie Smith more than ten years ago. Over the years, I have watched her ask that question many times, so the response from this group was no surprise.

“It’s rare that a company doesn’t have a competitive advantage,” Jaynie explains, “but most often, the company simply doesn’t know what it is. Or they know what it is, but have never talked about it, held it up for display, pulled it apart to understand its power. Or they know what it is and even understand it, but never tell anyone, never tell their employees, never tell their customers.”

And so, I was happy to learn, a couple of years ago, that Jaynie was compiling her research into a book. And it’s published. Because she is a close friend, I get to spend time with her to pick her brain. Over the next couple of days, I will share some insights from those conversations.

Meanwhile, the book is out. Creating Competitive Advantage by Jaynie Smith. It lists for $20, but Amazon has it for $13. And if you can’t wait for the book, you can read chapter one on Jaynie’s website (for free).