The Flip. p2. Narrative
It’s the thread of what you do and what overarching story it tells. It’s a sustained arc about how you show up, what you do from a high altitude view and how you frame the world: on opportunities or threats. John Hagel has studied the power of narratives and how they’re different from stories. Stories are: about the individual: you, me, someone imaginary self-contained: have a beginning, middle, end focusing on one point (hence, the moral of the story) Narratives are: about the audience: they…
Self-Focused v Others-Focused
What’s your focus gap? Where are you focusing your efforts on your comms and messaging? Here’s a self-audit to start seeing where’s your focus. Something VERY important: It’s a spectrum —it’s totally ok to be somewhere in between. The idea is for you to identify where you are. Think of it as a dial. Wherever you are, you can regulate and adapt your messaging to a new state. 🙂 LanguageDo you use your language or your client’s? SELF •————————————————• OTHERS…
Markets and fits
What’s a market? Friend of the list, Jonathan Stark, sent this email where he described what a market is: “Market—a place, virtual or otherwise, where buyers and sellers gather to facilitate the exchange of goods and services.” There are a few things to add that also make a market work: They don’t have defined nor definitive rules —yet, they can be regulated. Players can come and go as long as they have 2 things: will AND resources. Markets can expand, contract or cease to exist. There are no…
A question for you.
Quick question: When someone tells you or you hear “Mind the gap”, what do you understand and what’s your action to take? 🙂
Mind the gap
When hearing “Mind the gap”, you’re supposed to be careful and watch your step… so you don’t fall into the void, into the unknown. What if you thought of it in a different way? Mind the gap → Look for that void, for that untaken space in your market where needs are unmet and step in.
Minding The Gap
To find a Product-Market Fit means you must fit into what’s already there. What will fit into the market?Only what’s known to fit. Nothing too different. Safe. You need to mold (fit) your product or offering to what’s in the market. A continuum of What Is. The focus is on what you offer, meaning “How could I fit my product into the market so it (the product) competes?” In a market where everything feels the same, what’s the tie-breaker? Price. When your customer doesn’t know how to compare…
Filling the gaps
Filling a gap is simpler than filling a fit. With a gap, you’re free to take the space in any way possible. A square takes a square space in an open gap. With a fit, you need to mold yourself INTO the fit. A square trying to fit into a circle gap? Kinda weird… Mind The Gap Choosing to fill a gap can have you take and fulfill an unmet need and fill it in an unfit/unconventional way. A game with your rules. Better context modeling. A smarter way to play. Not dictated by the rest. The extra…
The gap
It’s like diving a new site. You won’t know exactly what you’ll see, but have a rough idea. You know you’ll be underwater —that’s a good start. ???? You know what’s the water temperature on surface, and can guesstimate what it’ll be as you go deeper. So you prepare accordingly. A wetsuit, a drysuit or just a rashguard. You know you might encounter currents and surges. You’re aware of what changes happen. You know how long you can stay below water, depending on your equipment and depth. What you…
Snorkeling or diving?
You’re in the Caribbean and have two options: snorkeling or diving. Which one would you choose? You snorkel Don’t need quite a lot of equipment: usually just your snorkel and fins. You stay on the surface, need lots of sun protection (your back will be under the sun for a loooong time), it’s fun, can’t really explore for longer what you see below (a starfish, an angel fish, coral…) It’s somehow easier to have a sense of orientation: stick your face off the water and look for landmarks. You…
Focus Gaps
You started working on your personal inventory and are asking yourself “Now what?” You move onto what’s your current Focus Gap. Your very own self-audit to start seeing things under a different light. Are you focused on yourself or on others? You can review your comms and messaging under these 2 lenses (on your website, brochures or any kind of media you use). Self-Focused It’s all about you. Our work, what we do, what we see, how we work, how we help, our vision, about us, our projects, our…