Should you announce your format before they do?
Format wars, API standards, industry protocols: the worst outcome is a split market, and yet each side prefers its own standard to win. That combination has a name and a solution, and neither is obvious from staring at the market.
Operations Intermediate Game Theory Pro engine
After you install, this is the model to open.
Standards War: Which Format to Back?
- In your spreadsheet, click the Sortia icon in the strip of icons down the right-hand edge. No strip? Click the arrow at the bottom-right to open it. You can also use Extensions, then Sortia, then Open Sortia.
- Click Start from a template and put that name in the search box.
- Pick the card with that name and click Load this template. It arrives on a new tab with real numbers already in it.
This one runs on a Pro engine, and every free install includes five full-quality runs on your own numbers, shared across all five Pro engines rather than five for each. After that, Pro is $199/year.
The answer
What rational play looks like:
- Equilibria
- 2 both match
- Splitting
- 1 or 0 ruinous
- Move first
- +5 to you
- Verdict
- Coordination
There are two equilibria, one for each format, so the game is not about being clever: it is about which one you land on. The sequential analysis is the useful part. Committing publicly first is worth about 5 points to you, which is precisely why companies announce standards early, loudly, and with partners already lined up.
The model
A 2x2 payoff grid. Each cell holds both payoffs, yours then theirs, for one combination of choices.
| Both back A | You 9 · Rival 7 |
| Both back B | You 6 · Rival 9 |
| Split (A vs B) | You 1 · Rival 1 |
| Split (B vs A) | You 0 · Rival 0 |
| Equilibria | solved |
Once it is in your sheet
- The model arrives with real numbers in it and runs as it stands, so you can press the button first and understand it second.
- Change the numbers to yours. The sheet marks which cells are inputs and which hold formulas, and most labels carry a note explaining the row.
- Press the run button at the bottom of the panel. It is labeled for the tool you are in, and the result lands on its own tab, with a written reading of it beside the figures.
Never used Google Sheets? Start here goes the whole way, in seven steps, and assumes nothing.
Next question
- Which task should you actually chase?Office Move: What Sets the Date?
- How much of the schedule is hidden padding?Certification: Buffer the Chain, Not the Tasks
- How few nurses can cover every hour of your unit?How Many Nurses Does Each Shift Need?
- Is this security control worth the budget line?Is This Security Control Worth It?
- What does that broken process actually cost per year?What a Broken Process Costs per Year
- How much should you produce each month?Production & Demand Planner
Every model like this one, and the method behind them: Decision trees.