“Judge, I don’t have any evidence that my competitors committed fraud, but I want you to fine them and give us the money. There’s no way Crappy Smartphone doesn’t have more sales than Apple’s iPhone (tm). The sales online and in brick-and-mortar stores are rigged. Everyone claims they bought a Crappy Smartphone and not an iPhone, when we ask. Fraud has to be involved. Or the government is rigging incentives to promote Apple’s product. Or…”
You might think that’s a crappy strategy (yes, pun intended) to go to court with no evidence but it’s what has been going on for political campaign strategy these days. If a person gets 3% of the vote and the winner gets 70% of the vote, this loser says the winner committed fraud, or somebody did on their behalf.
Imagine your marketing exec comes to you with this complaint. The reason he/she is not meeting their market share goal is because the competitors are cheating. Imagine trying to hire a professional who claims they got fired because someone else cheated. Would you give them another shot or hire them? Probably not. (I do see CEOs who blame their crappy results on the government, regulations, etc. and I’m not impressed there either.)
Whatever you do, do not let political strategies of losers infect your business strategies. “Data is life,” a friend would chime whenever we needed to make decisions. Look at the evidence. Don’t go by gut and wishful thinking or bluster. The axiom “If you can’t beat ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with bulls**t” shouldn’t work in business.
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