In orthopedics, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that success is a zero-sum game, where growth comes at the expense of competitors. This zero-sum perspective fosters cutthroat competition, limited collaboration, and a focus on short-term gains over long-term innovation.
Most of us believe that you must take market share from your competitor.
You win another surgical procedure…. and they lose another surgical procedure.
In stark contrast, an abundance mindset views the market as ever-expanding, where collaboration and innovation create opportunities for all.
One of the abundance mindset principles is outlined by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their book The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. They present The Law of Category: If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in. Create a new niche if the existing ones are dominated by competitors.
Those innovators see the market as stretchable. Inventing a new product or service category grows the pie for everyone.
Let’s review some companies who have used the abundance mindset and The Law of the Category.
- S+N created the distraction osteogenesis category (Ilizarov).
- Spine-Tech created the interbody cage category (BAK).
- Sofamor-Danek created synthetic bone grow category (INFUSE).
- Kyphon created the kyphoplasty category and also grew the vetebroplasty category (Kyphoplasty).
- SI-Bone created the SI Joint fusion category (iFuse).
- SpineGuard created the pedicle sensor category (PediGuard)
- OrthoGrid created the precision C-arm navigation category (OrthoGrid).