Things always change. It’s always been that way. The 1st telegraph was likely more shocking to people than anything Elon says today. Today’s environment seems to be more conceptual in ways. How does today’s news impact your brand, hiring and selling your products? Here are a few top issues I found from reviewing many different surveys, whitepapers and thought leaders.
From the early 80s to recent years, our economy has been rewards based and efficiency focused. Just look at PE ratios. Going forward you need leadership that can think at a higher level. Holistic and systems thinkers can solve complex problems better than efficiency and diplomatic mindsets. I have been researching organizations that perform well and invest in their futures, while maintaining good to great financial metrics. The mindset of leading organizations look very different from efficient based organizations.
Sustainable and regenerative operations.
People who are adaptable can change. Adaptable people are not the right match for efficiency and diplomatic roles. Finding, promoting and placing the right people in the right seats has always been a major topic. In the age of conscious consumption and conscious organizations, adapting products and services will be a requirement. Leaders who are not conscious and empathetic to the customer and employee will not be able to make the change rapid enough. That means finding, promoting and hiring in different ways. The old functional methods don’t work for the companies with high PE ratios of tomorrow.
It’s odd that we collectively call it ‘conscious’ consumption and ‘conscious’ organizations. All organizations have unconscious and subconscious mindsets that ultimately define their futures. I have found a number of organizations selling virtually the same product in the same industry. After auditing hundreds of these organizations, the leadership mindset differences are pronounced. Some are conscious and highly likely to have higher financial performance metrics. There are many who are very efficient with their investments and rigorous by design. I would like to say organizations with a higher number of systems thinkers and holistic thinkers are able to solve many of the problems that keep showing up in the 2022 reports that I have been reading.
Here’s one example of a topic that keeps coming up. Intelligent machines are more sophisticated today. Outsourcing to this new world requires leaders who understand conceptual systems that can’t be well defined. Some questions I ran across: Is AI working? Do you have people who can tell the difference? What roles should machines take? Automation is a great answer for many roles but not all of them. Which ones? Do you have leadership in place that can plan for the difference, the change over time?
It all comes back to people. After examining hundreds of leadership teams, the companies that are doing well and will do well in the future have the mindsets that can change. Those same organizations adapt as needed, when needed.
I have a ton of data to share and will start doing so soon.
Most projects I have worked on were successful because of Product-Market Fit was achieved. PMF worked because a great business operating system is in place.
Performing product-market fit as a framework or methodology alone is not enough. Having an underlying technology is critical to achieving and sustaining disruptive innovation and Product-Market Fit. I invented PMF technology because I could not find something to help me when i work at growth organizations. When the loudest mouths in the room drowns out the truth, bring data, lots of it. I wanted a ‘source of truth’ that would remove as much organizational bias from decision making. By letting the voice of the customer come forward, you have a real chance to winning Product-Market Fit.
If you’re an organization building a product and you’re living in a world of hunches, you’re suffering from extreme uncertainties. Below is a list of the do’s and don’ts when operating under extreme uncertainty.
Do no
Do
Rely on intuition alone
Remove bias, use people-centric predictive technology. Solve the underserved needs of customers.
Rely on expertise alone
Require deep understanding of people to test assumptions. Drive predictive, data driven thinking.
Rely on money and media to find your customer
It was once possible to Media your way into finding your customer. The future is about a deep understanding so you can create Customer Delight.
Rely on Time to iterate
The one thing no one can buy. Limit guessing by time.
Experiment
Experiment with expectations of the results that are time-boxed. Become predictive. Better yet, be prescriptive. Expectations should be based on qualifying the customer at a deep level. Predict why people buy.
When building a purpose brand your building a purpose product. I don’t think you can I have one without the other. Here’s what I mean;
Products fall along a chart called the progression of value. When you assess where you are, you’re one of four places: Commodities, goods, services, experiences.
The capabilities of a product typically fall along the lines of how well it’s integrated with the product value and reflected by pricing. It’s very rare that you find rich experiences that are cheap. They are out there there’s just hard to find as people learn the value of what they produce.
Let’s take for instance the business of coffee which is a classic example of the progression of value. Green coffee beans would be considered a commodity. They’re not going to do much for you without work. You could say that a green coffee Bean has low capabilities. Moving up, ground coffee in a store would be a consumer goods product. I think you see the direction we’re going in. Eventually, you get to services and then experience. A well-refined coffee shop with many locations is beyond a cup of coffee. It becomes a meeting place, somewhere you can get work done. Coffee is the centerpiece as far as the product goes but the experience is beyond a cup of coffee. One could argue, Disney has become one of the brands representing a high level of integrated experiences. There are several products all tied together. For the most part, it’s all one brand. There’s not much opportunity for another brand to get mine share from that customer. They even have a cruise line.
When we combine progression of value with business operating system architecture we get a new quadrant based system. Where does your brain sit on this chart below?
By combining the progression of value with modular or interdependence architecture, you get a way to judge the brand in a different light. Modular architecture benefits allow products to get to market fast and satisfy customer demands in a nimble way. Interdependent architecture is a lot like Apple. Pretty much everything is made by them with some exceptions on peripherals. The downside to this model is slow adaptation IF you cant predict customer’s unmet needs. It’s hard to react fast and it requires the organization predict the customer very well. Companies like Apple and Netflix do a great job of this because they don’t just consume ‘data of the past’ to predict customer unmet needs. They have a model that uses theories, which are statements of causality to ‘estimate’ the future. Their customer value proposition is always ahead of the competition and even ahead of the customers themselves.
When you think of your product, obviously, you want to increase the progression of value if you like your paycheck. How well you can organize and respond to customers changing demands puts you in a position of either modular or inter-dependent architecture. If you really don’t know a lot about the customer and it’s difficult to assess their needs, you’re likely to be modular and where you sit on the progression of value is your story to tell. Unlike the concept of the magic quadrant, there’s really no one quadrant to be in. You can make progress in a good direction, improve profitability but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to jump into a different quadrant.
So just a review there’s four quadrants I’m proposing:
Commodities and goods, modular business architecture
Commodities and goods, interdependent business architecture
Services and experiences, modular business architecture
This is an experience, interdependent business architecture
I see a lot of brands that are doing well in their own quadrant and they should make progress moving towards more profitability but not overthink the problem. Creating a Disney or a Starbucks like product is a major ordeal if you are not in their quadrant (Let’s not even go down the path of good money versus bad money, how are you finance all this). If you are running a museum that has a giant ball of string with an attached gift shop, you don’t want to pretend to be Disney. That would be a lot of work. Can it be done? I guess… one day but a lot has to change with the product and the organization.
Understanding where you are; a) contributing to satisfying the unmet needs of customers, b) how customers will choose you, and c) how you will deliver those experiences are the three elements to building a purpose brand no matter what model you are in. Understanding the progression of value and how it relates to your business architecture is also vitally important in making progress for both the customer and the organization.
“Are you interested in learning how data-driven decision-making can enable you to be a more effective entrepreneur or member of your organization? Below is information about the benefits of becoming more data-driven, as well as a number of steps you can take to become more analytical in your processes.”
WHAT IS DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING?
Data-driven decision-making (sometimes abbreviated as DDDM) is the process of using data to inform your decision-making process and validate a course of action before committing to it.
While DDDM works well it needs a lot of ‘historic data’ or what Clayton Christensen called ‘data of the past’ to work.
The problem with the below statements are many. In 2020, better ways to gather data exist, and if you do the below items, make sure you have a checklist on planning what you collect and how you collect it.
In business, this is seen in many forms. For example, a company might:
Collect survey responses to identify products, services, and features their customers would like
(ISSUE: survey data, if you pick the wrong markets, wrong personalities, your sample can be way off. Example: there are likely 20+ personality trait patterns of Vitamin buyers. So, your sample needs to collect the right people, in the right locations with the personality traits that you are targeting. If you blend people, you get averaged results).
Conduct user testing to observe how customers are inclined to use their product or services and to identify potential issues that should be resolved prior to a full release
(ISSUE: user testing data, if you pick the wrong markets, wrong personalities, your sample can be way off. Example: there are likely 20+ personality trait patterns of Vitamin buyers. So, your sample needs to collect the right people, in the right locations with the personality traits that you are targeting. If you blend people, you get averaged results. The same problem as above).
Launch a new product or service in a test market in order to test the waters and understand how a product might perform in the market
(ISSUE: the test market should be defined in a careful way so you know your market and customers well. You have to remove adverse selection and solve the asymmetric data problem you have right now. Pick the user testing data, if you pick the wrong markets, wrong personalities, your sample can be way off. Example: there are likely 20+ personality trait patterns of Vitamin buyers. So, your sample needs to collect the right people, in the right locations with the personality traits that you are targeting. If you blend people, you get averaged results. The same problem as above).
Analyze shifts in demographic data to determine business opportunities or threats
(ISSUE: Netflix tosses demographics in the data garbage can – for real. Demographics is a dated concept. While you can find correlations to demographics you are looking for causal reasons why people buy. Think about this: You have likely heard that ‘all sales are emotional’ – well, measure it!
A suggested checklist:
Data-driven decision making needs to be a mix of hypothesis-based, look-ahead data AND historic data. Think about driving a car: You need 3 forms of data a) predictive (I have a better way to get to the place) b) real-time data (I have fuel and tires are good) and c) historic data.
Add in ways to collect hard to measure data – likely more valuable than the easy stuff. That is a classic IBM philosophy.
Add in a reason ‘why people buy’. Whether B2B or B2C, ‘decisions are emotional’ – I say they are personality trait-based. Look for causal reasons by decisions are made. Can’t find them, ask me – I may have them.
I will dare not attempt to describe
analytics or the wonderful work Gartner did in describing the analytics
stack. Its been done very well by
others.
I see a lot of articles about big data,
machine learning and artificial intelligence.
One way to frame the two broad subject
matters is to consider how they can be joined by extending the definition of
prediction and prescription analytics to automation analytics. Even with prediction and prescription
analytics, decisions are still held up by human decisions with no real defined
framework at most organizations. It gets
harder to execute using the frameworks of the past, so it’s time to think about
how we consume data in or organizations.
With automation analytics, decisions are
executed by machines, removing the ‘how can’ and ‘what will’ from the business
framework. I am not sure how ‘human’ the
questions will be or can be answered by the most confident of people. If these outcomes are any good, it will
approach some of the earn Turning Test theories.
Clayton Christensen describes much of this
as theories when predicting future outcomes.
If the right framework is in place, this could be theory analytics? Maybe that name has a future. I know for sure, extending the old
definitions of analytics into automation analytics will not work. They barely hold up in business today. For example: define your best customer
segments according to current market share vs future state market share. Nope, have not seen it in too many
places. Now do it in real time as the
frames of business change? Time, place,
product, pricing.
As leading edge organizations approach
prediction and prescription the very best, the ones who leap off the page
(uber, Airbnb, Amazon) will go even
faster, more boldly.
This is a long summary of an article that caught my attention a few years ago. Sharing the summary here.
We have the opportunity to alter the environment in which decisions are made to encourage better choices
5 Step Approach:
Understand errors can occur
Determine if behavioral issues are a factor
Pinpoint underlying causes
Redesign decision making to mitigate the negative impact
Rigorously test the solution
Poor decision-making comes from insufficient motivation and cognitive biases
Humans have two modes of processing information:
Instinctive/emotional thinking = automated; relies on mental shortcuts for an immediate payoff
Slow, logical, and deliberate thinking
Problem
People act in ways that contradict to their interests
People work to encourage others to switch from their own beliefs to be better aligned with theirs
To determine which mode is causing problematic behavior, companies should ask:
Is the problem caused by people’s failure to take any action at all? (lack of motivation)
Are people taking action but in a way that introduces systematic errors? (problem with cognitive biases)
Solution
Common sense can go a long way in diagnosing underlying causes
Through some simple adjustments, executives can produce powerful benefits for their employees and organizations
Instead of trying to rewire the human brain, adjustments can be made in the environment to drive improvements at little to no cost
Vary the order in which alternatives are presented (via wording)
Adjust the process by which they are selected
Carefully choose defaults
Levers to Improve Decision-Making
Trigger System 1–emotions and biases that accompany System 1 thinking
Arouse emotions
Executives should strengthen emotional connections with their organizations to lower employee turnovers and improve performance, as measured by customer satisfaction
Harness biases
Executives can also use cognitive biases to their advantage
Ex. Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) collaborated with UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to reduce the numbers of people delinquent in paying their vehicle taxes.
They sent notifications “written in plain English” and included a photo of vehicles in question in some letters
Rewritten letters alone increased the number of people who paid their taxes by 6% and 20%, respectively
BIT focused on loss aversion to influence better decision-making (losses are twice as powerful as gains)
Simplify the process
Organizational processes often involve unnecessary steps that lower motivation or increase the potential for cognitive biases
Ex. A hospital’s implementation of a centralized patient care system motivated doctors to keep information up-to-date
Engage System 2–greater deliberation and analysis in decision-making
Use joint, rather than separate, evaluations to reduce bias
Joint evaluation nudges employers to focus more on past performance and less on gender and implicit stereotypes
Reflection has a beneficial impact on employees’ on-the-job performance, training and employee development
Use planning prompts to help people plan/follow through and use reminders to highlight goals
For projects that require a team effort, have members create clear maps for reaching goals that detail the “when” and “how”
Reminders have the ability to reduce customer dishonesty (insurance company mileage form example)
Inspire broader thinking perspectives
Instead of “what should I do?” ask, “what could I do?”
Helps to think past b&w to consider shades of gray
Encourage the consideration of disconfirming evidence
When we think a particular course of action is correct, our tendency is to interpret any available information as supporting that thinking (confirmation bias)
Once we invest resources in a course of action, we justify those investments by continuing down that path (escalation of commitment)
Together, these biases lead decision-makers to ignore the possibility of superior alternatives
Organizations can bypass this problem by encouraging counterfactual thinking (asking how events might have unfolded had they taken a different course of action)
Rotation brings a new set of eyes to scrutinize past decisions & encourages people to make disciplined choices
Bypass Both Systems–create processes that automatically skirt System 1&2
Set the default
Changing the default for standard processes can have a powerful impact on ultimate outcomes, especially when decisions are complex or difficult (ex. automatically enrolling employees in a retirement plan)
Build in automatic adjustments
Construct adjustments that account for poor System 1 and System 2 thinking (ex. add buffer time to projects)
Choosing The Right Lever
The best way to influence results is to bypass both systems, however, creating a “one size fits all” approach may not be feasible or desirable
System 2 overrides mistakes caused by System 1, but cognitive effort becomes a limited resource
Using it for one decision means that it may not be available for others
Additionally, engaging in System 2 might drain energy and cognitive resources, thus diminishing effort and persistence
Testing the Solution
Identify the desired outcome: should be specific and measurable
Identify possible solutions and focus on one
Introduce the change in some areas of the organization (the “treatment group”) and not others (the “control group”): randomize entities
Imagine reading Ulysses, on fire, and in German. And
it may still be easier to understand than some of the theories behind these
terms.
Are you by chance interested in knowing how to make a
smart business dumb? How to ensure a successful company of thirty years dries
up lickedy-split? Because believe me, it’s actually really quite simple.
Open your mouth and say something containing each of
those five words above. It doesn’t even matter how you use them. In fact, it
doesn’t even matter if they make sense at all. Go ahead, give it a try.
Our lion taming business is finding the digital wizard of oz
lacking muffin-marketing and veal-viability as well as other nano-economic mad
sustainability skills on planet Krypton in Gotham.
Wonderfully done. And apologies to the fans.
Dry technically-cut terminology like that is a
surefire way to make sure the path you take as a business, is the wrong one.
I have another little tasty example.
Just do as I do, like a good little company would:
Let your eyes glaze over, and do your best to look dead. Think zombie.
Don’t add a drop of tone or color to your voice. Sounding painfully dull? You’re on the right track.
Now speak as though you couldn’t care less that you have a heartbeat.
And don’t forget to scream internally.
Boom.
You’ve done it.
You’ve mastered another of the so many reasons
businesses today are lead astray or find themselves drowning with the question
of “what is this new-age water” on their lips. We must understand it’s not easy
for them though, floundering around in a scary new world of terms and
technicalities they don’t understand. Trying so hard to do what they’re told
needs to be done, it’s almost sad to see them sink and not understand why.
FORGET TRADITIONAL, IT’S
DEAD. MOVE ON. ADAPT. ADAPT HARDER.
I’ve watched so many companies navigate their way
through terrain so frighteningly boring and industrialized, they all eventually
find themselves under that avalanche of digital-snow, confused and unsure about
which way’s up.
And you know what I say?
Spit.
It usually surprises even the most seasoned of a
businessperson.
In all honesty, though, businesses today are
constantly told— no scratch that— they’re constantly screamed at that they need
to adapt or die. Embrace the digital drug or perish alongside newsprint and the
wheel. That they’ve got to open their front doors and let the new binary-filled
world set fire to a hundred years of traditional trade and common sense.
And you know what?
They’re absolutely right.
The problem isn’t what
they’re saying. It’s how they’re saying it.
This problem, this painstakingly simple problem, is
precisely why so many either take a stand and die out with the familiar, or
botch what they think is ‘adapting.’
Marketing, media, all of that good stuff, needs to be
delivered with a gentle hand. A skilled and knowledgeable hand. Hopefully,
that’s no surprise. Like everything else from the past centuries, it needs to
be done right. This near foolproof image of ‘the digital world,’ often believed
as the lifesaving key of a company is almost never so if done poorly. People
either have too much faith in the way digital viability works today or not
enough.
For some insane reason, there tends to be very little
middle ground there.
But embracing this commonly perceived utopia of
digital understanding certainly does not mean pumping your Adwords account full
of dollar bills, hoping against hope some poor suckers click by accident and
decide to stay because you’ve got pretty colors. And even with a refined
campaign or targeted ads, it doesn’t mean just attaching a card and letting it
run loose.
There’s more to it.
So much more.
But it’s all weighted with words and economic
ideologies that are so boring and technical I could deliver a speech on fire,
me, not the speech, and it would still take some effort to listen to.
We need to cut through that to the heart. To the
theme. Even if you understand the words, even if you have a Harvard degree in
business and could actually find a way to deliver speeches on fire, working
with a theme is always better. It always allows for easier manipulation and
control of any concept, business or otherwise.
And at the heart of everything is a theme.
Because strangely contrary to popular belief,
viability still does not look like buying airtime and physically beating your
customer with a coupon after coupon. They feel pain too. They hurt. And man
trust me, coupons really do hurt.
No, those methods are akin to repeatedly punching the
same person in the face, asking them to love you over and over again.
They won’t.
In fact, they may even come to resent you, but more on
that side of buyer relations later.
Much like children, you’ll find force-feeding the
consuming adult a task so far from pleasant, it’s absurdly messy. Things like
media buy for example need to be handled with a graceful and gentle hand, not a
closed fist.
Again, hopefully not shocking news.
I could go on telling you about how I ran the Blah
Corporation or how I raised Double Blah L.L.C from the dead, but none of you
want to read about that. Because that’s part of the very problem I’m trying to
get at here. You all want to read about what’s underneath. The sublayer. The
substance. The soul.
The beating heart of the business, and how to keep it
so in today’s world.
The truth is, that which separates good business from
bad business is not always a matter of money, or a matter of stance, but about
the relationship and the perceived image the consumer understands. And to
deliver that message, one needs to hold the full understanding, the theme, in
the palm of their hands.
Look me in the eye and tell me why it is we can’t make
this simple.
No seriously, tell me, because I haven’t a damned
clue.
No one introduces themselves with a fist to the face.
It’s just bad business. And technically a crime I
think.
You see, what I’m saying is that there can be no
doubt, you have to adapt. All businesses today will die if they do not come to
realize digital viability is necessary. But you HAVE to do it right.
We can all scream about numbers and analytics all day
long, but we’ll only leave none the wiser, and partially deaf.
And I don’t know about you, but I quite like my
hearing.
I’ve been saying this for years. None of it sticks to
the wall, no matter how much scotch and scotch tape I buy, and how many laps I
run around you. And I’m fast too.
It’s just simple fact that the boring and the
technical never inspires, and that my friends, is where it all goes wrong. Some
of the brightest business minds out there understand or care so little of this,
we could fill their heads with golfballs. And believe me when I say we’d need a
lot of golfballs for that.
So alas, we arrive at the power of metaphors.
Metaphors let us connect so much easier to the theory.
And when we’re better connected to the theory, we’re that much closer to
reality and truth.
We’re closer to good business.
Saying I’m going to ‘dumb this down’ insults all of
us, myself more than anyone else. I’m not dumbing it down at all, I’m
smartening you up. I’m making it so this world of business, not unlike the
lives we retire to at home, is no longer as foreign and strange as it may seem.
Showing you that good business can, in fact, embrace our digital world with
grace and success and that we all have the means to see it so.
I’m going to tell you all about it.
Ready?
Some small updates to this article. Since it was first
written, modular architecture, think Legos, versus integrated architecture
(like a big sandcastle), is fully taken off. You can connect many different
pieces and parts together rapidly and disrupt, removing the profits from the
entity you’re competing with. It’s why
things appear to be going so fast today versus just a few years ago. Quick tricks cant save you now.
When you think of your business as a single number…
… you don’t see the details needed to drive growth.
This
simple example indicates the great opportunities that most businesses have if
they would just segment their customer base a bit more. in this example, the first picture indicates
an average view of the entire country –
as 16%. A business that had 16% market share across the United States is a very
successful business. For this example, 16% would be based upon a calculated
Total Addressable Market, not the population as a whole.
A
simple breakdown of that calculated Total Addressable Market by county or zip
code, indicates great diversity in market share. I have seen this many times;
in one example, a financial services firm was doing well in 50 zip codes. The addressable Market was not the US yet
marketing dollars and brand dollars we’re purposed into areas that had no
potential customers. For most companies
there our wholesale groups of people that are just not interested in what you
have for sale. You either have to choose a total addressable market that is grounded
in the realities of the current product Market fit or reconfigure marketing and
product to reach different segments.
By
focusing on the places that matter you do give up some market share. The
benefit is focusing on places that can yield significant market share growth by
higher frequency marketing (appropriate frequency would be a better way to
describe it) to the customers that matter.
high concentrations of potential customers also have a halo effect from
high reach and frequency. Where there are no customers but a large population you
clearly see the opposite effect.
My
recent work examines total addressable market share not by county or zip code
but by creating profiles of what people desire ( why people buy) based on real
CRM data. It’s a new and better way to reach people not based on geographical
boundaries or late-stage marketing such as cost per click. The precision cuts
marketing cost, allowing organizations to focus on the people that desire what
they produce. You have more time for creative, more time for branding and building
better products. You spend less time on media and publishers that are not in
any way connected to your desire for profitability.
By
understanding why people buy and be willing to reconfigure databases not based
off of what Clayton Christensen calls “data of the past” but focused on theories of customers and why
they choose you. You quickly discover you’re removing the noise from the system
and getting to the core issues: how can
I reach everybody that will buy something, enjoy it, with the least effort
possible?
Here is a basic summary of a book that was very influential to me. It’s definitely a part in the gearbox. To avoid it, is nonsense. I would encourage everyone to read it, but here are my notes.
Introduction – What Sticks?
Six Principles of Sticky Ideas
Simplicity (p. 16)
“To strip and idea to its core, we must be masters of exclusion… must relentlessly prioritize.”
“… sound bites are not the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal.”
“Create ideas that are both simple and profound.”
Example: The Golden Rule
Unexpectedness (p. 16)
Not just surprise
“For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.”
“We can engage people’s curiosity over a long period of time by systematically ‘opening gaps’ in their knowledge – and then filling in those gaps.” – think of teachers
Concreteness (p.17)
“We must explain our ideas in terms of human actions, in terms of sensory information.”
“Naturally sticky ideas are full of concrete images… because our brains are wired to remember concrete data. In proverbs, abstract truths are often encoded in concrete language: ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’.”
Credibility (p. 17)
“Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials.”
“We need ways to help people test our ideas for themselves – a ‘try before you buy’ philosophy…”
Emotions (pp. 17-18)
“We make them feel something.”
“We are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions.”
“Sometimes the hard part is finding the right emotion to harness.”
Stories (p.18)
“Research shows that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when we encounter that situation … Similarly, hearing stories acts as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively.”
The Villain of creating sticky ideas is the “Curse of Knowledge”. Basically, you can’t un-ring the bell. “You can’t unlearn what you already know.” (p. 19).
Two ways to beat the curse:
“Don’t learn anything.”
“Take your ideas and transform
them.”
Six Principles of Sticky Ideas – Explained
Simple (pp. 25 – 62)
“… finding the core of the idea.”
“You can’t have five North Stars, you can’t have five most important goals…”
“It’s about elegance and prioritization, not dumbing down.”
“You prioritize goals that are ‘critical’ ahead of goals that are ‘beneficial’.”
SIMPLE = CORE + COMPACT
Southwest’s core idea is “We are THE low-fare airline.” Everything they do is in line with this concept. Do they start serving light lunches? NO, because it would interfere with their core.
“If you say three things, you don’t say anything.” James Carville
Schema = prior knowledge – useful in analogies and making core ideas compact by using prior knowledge to make ideas understandable and sticky.
Unexpected (pp. 63 – 97)
Must get people’s attention AND keep it long enough to deliver the message.
Unexpected ideas are more likely to stick because surprise makes us pay attention and think.”
Gap theory – gaps in knowledge cause curiosity – we want to know the answer (think pulling out your cell phone to look something up…)
“… we need to open gaps before we close them.”
EXAMPLE: teasers for news broadcasts
“To make our communications more effective, we need to shift our thinking from ‘What information do I need to convey?’ to ‘What questions do I want my audience to ask?’”
Sony making “pocketable radios” (pp.93-94)
JFK saying we need to achieve “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” (pp. 94-96)
Concrete (pp. 98 – 129)
Aesop’s fables (still repeated after 2500+ years) transform abstract ideas into concrete things, making them easier to understand and “stickier”.
You must visualize your customers and find out what works for them using concrete language.
Credible (pp. 130 – 164)
We trust/believe experts, celebrities, and “anti-authorities,” who are people who share their own experiences to add credibility.
“Vivid details boost credibility.”
“…[We] need to identify details that are compelling… details that symbolize and support our core idea.”
“Statistics aren’t inherently helpful; it’s the scale and context that make them so.”
Emotional (pp. 165 – 203)
You have to make people care in order for them to act.
“The most basic way to make people care is to form an association between something they don’t yet care about and something they do care about.”
“If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” – Mother Theresa
“How can we make people care about our ideas? … We create empathy for specific individuals. We show how our ideas are associated with things that people already care about. We appeal to their self-interest, but we also appeal to their identities – not only to the people they are right now but also to the people they would like to be.”
Stories (pp. 204 – 237)
“Stories are told and retold because they contain wisdom.”
Memorable stories provide “…simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).”
If you deliver a message or idea as an argument, it will be argued. If delivered as a story, it draws the listener in.
Epilogue – Sticky Advice (pp. 253 – 284)
The Communication Framework
“For an idea to stick, for it to be useful
and lasting, it’s got to make the audience:
Pay attention
Understand and remember it
Agree/Believe
Care
Be able to act on it
Sometimes, the audience may change,
improve, or “cherry-pick” pieces of your message. You must ask yourself if the new version is
true to our core?
Being able to spot a great idea is more
important than creating one because there will always be “… more great ideas
than any single individual, even the most creative one.”
Sticky Advice (pp. 253 – 284)
Don’t ignore the value of communication
INSIDE your organization. Knowing your
customer is important, but every employee must understand and believe in your
company’s core ideas and values.
Everyone needs to know where the company is headed and how it’s going to
get there.
“A strategy is, at its core, a guide to
behavior.”
Barriers to talking strategy:
Curse of knowledge – once you know something, you
can’t “unknow” it.
Decision paralysis – too many
(or unclear) options => inaction.
Lack of common language – using
complicated/technical language.
Talking strategy and making ideas stick:
Be concrete – build on understood
concepts
Say something unexpected – get
someone’s attention
Tell stories – draw audience in
and make them care
If you haven’t read Part One of “Ten Silly Things,” you can read it here.
Otherwise, let’s move on to number two.
Silly Thing #2: Not Knowing What Actually Works (or Why)
Misattribution is a widespread disease. Take Google as an example.
How many things do you actually use Google for these days? This is a longer conversation that I’ve covered in depth elsewhere, but consider this: we already know the age of apps and social sharing is here. No one goes to Google to figure out how to make a reservation at a restaurant — that’s what Yelp and OpenTable and TripAdvisor are for. Right? When’s the last time you went to Google to discover “what are the hot new restaurants in my area?”
Even if I did find and then have dinner at a new restaurant I “discovered” via this Google search, the discovery didn’t exclusively come Google. It came from one of the many products of the age of apps and social sharing: in my case either Zagat or Eater.
So here’s the point: customers aren’t going to Google for most of the things many businesses still think they are. These properties have their tribes now. And yet Google gets lots of credit – often on a spreadsheet to validate it. How does this math work?
Well, if you are not growing or creating value, its certainly time to challenge the old ways.
