The problem with better

If you make a product that has a low cost strategy you can present your savings to your customers - for example we are 15% cheaper.

If you have a product differentiation strategy you can present your difference to your customers - for example this is how we are different X, Y, Z.

If you have a niche strategy you can explain how you are best suited to your niche - for example we have highly specialised products just for you.

Making an undifferentiated product at undifferentiated costs is a recipe for earning undifferentiated profits (Christensen et al)

The problem with better is that it is hard to measure. If you say you are 5% better what does that mean? Better than what? On what axis?

Strategies only work if your strategy is measurable by the customer (e.g. price difference is obvious). Better is hard to measure and understand, and with different users you serve being better for everyone is very difficult.

Different is better than better

Efficiency

Roger Martin has written at length about the issues with organisations relentlessly pursuing efficiency - with AI this effect is compounding. The lure of getting AI to do some work that is 70% as good as a human but 100% faster is too much for some to ignore.

If you follow this however you end up with products / services that are deteriorating in quality over time. If this happens explaining to your customers how you are better that these competitors becomes much easier - as they are witnessing the decline of quality of their current products first hand.

If this happens a better strategy will work as demand will grow for products that meet a baseline of quality. For the longest time (at the time of writing) we have lived in a technology world where things have gotten better, faster and cheaper - so a better strategy was too difficult to execute. But in a world where quality starts to decline - it might become very easy.