Sachin H. Jain: How focused we get on getting better without fully anticipating that our competitors are also getting better

Sachin H. Jain shared a post on LinkedIn:

“About once a month, I play tennis with Harlan Levine. I look forward to our matches in part because I enjoy Harlan’s company-and also because I am on a quest to get better and beat him one day.

More recently, I’ve been taking lessons anticipating my matches with Harlan. I work on different aspects of my game (my serve and also return strategy and overall fitness level).

Today, I went in feeling pretty good about about the progress I had made—and even felt like today might be the day that I challenge him for real (I have come close; but he always closes the gap).

It would not be the case.

To be sure, my game had improved (he told me as much). But I had underestimated the extent to which Harlan’s game had improved as well—not to mention the real-time pivots he was making in response to the changes I was making.

He owned me: 6-1.

It got me thinking about competition in business and how focused we get on getting better—without fully anticipating or respecting that our competitors are also getting better and also making pivots.

Even when we feel like we are going to be on top—we find ourselves surprised by something, sometimes something we can expect and oftentimes something we can’t.

Which is to say—competing isn’t just about becoming better versions of ourselves or beating what our competitors last did.

It’s about respecting their hustle and beating the better version of our competitors—because, like us, they want to improve. And win.

And win he did.”

Source: Sachin H. Jain/LinkedIn

Sachin H. Jain is the President and CEO of SCAN Group and Health Plan and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. He also serves as a Board Member at The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, an Academic Hospitalist (WOC) at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and a Board Member at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). He is also a board member of Omada Health.