Become the karak of your arena

Airports are usually about queues, security checks, and making sure we do not miss our flights. On a recent trip, I had cleared security, checked my gate, and still had some time before boarding. Like many travelers in that waiting zone, I went looking for a hot drink.

Most people were heading toward coffee. I wanted something different. I felt like having a cup of karak. I started scanning the usual places. Well-known international coffee chains. Small kiosks with snacks and soft drinks. Juice counters. Plenty of options, but not the one I was really looking for. Karak was nowhere to be found.

I walked from gate to gate, reading menus and signboards. Coffee in many variations. Regular tea here and there. Still no karak. After a short tour around the terminal, I finally noticed a modest cafe with a small sign that mentioned karak. It was not the fanciest place, nor the most crowded, but it had one thing no one else had.

I walked to the counter and, just to start a friendly conversation, asked the cashier: “How is your Karak?”

He answered with calm confidence: “It is the best at this airport.”

At first, I smiled. It sounded like pure marketing. Then the logic became clear. He was not exaggerating. His karak really was the best in the airport, simply because it was the only karak in the airport. Behind that short sentence there is a useful lesson about innovation, positioning, and reputation.

The cashier did something many companies fail to do. He defined his arena clearly. He did not claim, “Our karak is the best in the city.” He did not declare, “We serve the best karak in the world.” He limited his statement to a specific context: “This airport.” Within that boundary, what he said was completely accurate.

The wider the arena,  the harder it is to  stand out. When  everyone claims to  be the best, no one  really stands out.

In business, we often fight in the wrong arena. We try to be the best in broad, vague categories that are crowded and noisy: best service provider, best solution, best team. The wider the arena, the harder it is to stand out. When everyone claims to be the best, no one really stands out.

A smarter strategy is to narrow the arena and own a specific space. Instead of trying to be the best at everything, decide clearly what you want to be the natural choice for. That cafe did not dominate the entire world of hot drinks. It occupied a small but very real gap: travelers at that airport who specifically want karak.

When we hear the word “innovation,” we often think of advanced technologies, platforms, and disruptive models. But innovation can also be a very simple product decision that others ignore.

In that airport, most cafes were focused on coffee. They might compete on the selection of flavors, the size of the cup, or the strength of the espresso. One cafe made a different choice and added karak to the menu.

From a customer perspective, that one decision changed everything. I stopped comparing coffee quality. I stopped comparing prices. My question was no longer “Which cafe is better?” but “Who has karak?” Once the answer became clear, all other comparisons disappeared.

Many organizations miss this point. They invest in small improvements that keep them in the middle of the crowd: slightly better interfaces, slightly faster responses, slightly nicer designs. Useful, but not distinctive.

True innovation, even when simple, makes you the only one for something that matters to a specific group of people.

Reputation is often treated as a communication problem. We imagine that stronger slogans, more campaigns, and more posts will convince people that we are the best. In reality, reputation is first a design problem. It starts with how you design your services, products, and value proposition.

The airport cafe did not have a big marketing budget. It did not need a long explanation. Its reputation in that terminal is based on one simple truth: if you want karak, you go there. The cashier’s confident answer was not a sales tactic. It was a reflection of how they positioned themselves.

Many organizations do the opposite. They speak loudly about excellence, but offer almost exactly what everyone else offers. They claim to be different, yet when you look closely, you find the same menu as the rest of the terminal.

Surely, if your offering is not visibly distinctive, your reputation will always be fragile. Customers may like you, but they will not miss you. The moment someone else provides the same thing with a slightly lower price or a slightly nicer design, they will move.

Reputation becomes durable when it is anchored in clear differentiation that people can see and experience, not only in words.

This lesson does not apply only to companies. It applies to our careers as well.

In every department, there are people who are “the only one” for something specific: the only one who can handle a particular system with confidence; the only one who can explain complex technical topics in simple language; the only one who consistently delivers clear reports before the deadline; and the only one everyone trusts when a crisis hits.

These people have defined their arena. Within that space, colleagues naturally think of them first. They do not need to constantly advertise their capabilities. Their work speaks for them.

On the other hand, some professionals are perfectly decent, but generic. Another engineer. Another analyst. Another supervisor. They complete their tasks, but nothing about them is clearly and uniquely associated with a specific value.

If someone asked your manager today, “For what specific thing is this person the best choice?” Would the answer be instant and sharp, or long and vague?

Building a strong professional reputation begins with a conscious decision. You choose your “karak”. You decide what you want to be known for, then you invest in building that skill, that habit, or that contribution until it stops being a claim and becomes a simple fact.

• Firas Abussaud is a petroleum engineering systems specialist with over 23 years of experience in the industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and a Master of Science in construction engineering and management from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. Beyond his technical expertise, he is interested in photography, graphic design and artificial intelligence.