We’re in the middle of our Discovery phase for a hedge fund-of-funds manager: gathering perceptions from their clients, prospects and intermediaries. When the topic of competition comes up, we keep hearing phrases such as “field” and “arena” – evoking images of sports teams on playing fields or boxers in a ring. This metaphor is fine as far as it goes, but it stops short of making the essential point. The fight for competitive dominance happens in space all right, not physical space, but rather cerebral space–your prospect’s mind.