You ever see a post on Instagram pop up and wonder "who's this person again?" and proceed to hit the unfollow button while questioning why you followed them in the first place?
Warren Buffett popularized the idea of a moat. A competitive advantage so durable that competitors struggle to displace you. Remove the notion of competition and it becomes even more personal. It's a metric of value and relevance.
It suddenly just struck me that it's also a concept that describes how every enduring system survives.
The best friendships have switching costs, don't they? Like years of shared jokes, crises, memories and earned trust. Leaving becomes emotionally expensive.
The strongest marriages - the textbook ones that we marvel at - all have foundations built on proprietary data. Nobody knows your fears, habits, dreams and silences quite like the person who’s spent decades learning to identify, cope with and soothe them. That understanding can’t simply be copied.
It also applies to the antithesis of that where one party simply cannot leave because it's too embarrassingly dependent on the other for stability in whatever form it takes. Switching costs are why many abusive marriages prevail.
The healthiest communities create network effects like none other. From churches to cults. Every new relationship strengthens every existing one. Trust compounds because people know people who know people. Social science consistently finds that trust grows inside connected networks, regardless what they may be.
And then on a personal level, there's your reputation. Your brand. No logo, just simply an accumulated history of keeping promises and being who you said you are in a way that makes people come to identify, depend on and trust in your own version of consistency. "The smart one", "the always late one", "the caring one", "the happy-go-lucky one".
Even in business, researchers have consistently found that trust predicts loyalty better than switching costs do. People stay because they believe in the version of you that you consistently demonstrate.
If i removed your job title, your salary, your status and your possessions… whatever would remain that's difficult to replace... that's your moat.
Sometimes, it's also the thing that's inscribed on your tombstone when all's said and done.
Until next time.