Skip to main content

Here are the 3 Things Any Idea Needs to Survive


 

  1. Desirability
  2. Feasibility
  3. Viability

Simple right?

These three things are what make up the Balanced Breakthrough Model. The model highlights the core requirements to become a successful innovation.

Here is a quick breakdown of each element:

Desirability - Is there an actual need for this idea? What specifically is the problem you are solving for people?

Feasibility - Can you actually build / implement the solution? How hard is it with your current context?

Viability -  What is the investment required to create the solution? Is it really worth it? Can you derive long term value from the product or service you develop?


A lot of this may seem obvious, however so many people look to invent or innovate something and then start looking for the problem. Trying to create the context or need for your product to be required is never a good place to be in.

What gets interesting here is when you factor in timing, and this is something that A LOT of people miss. The three elements above are all needed, what happens though when the market isn't ready or the base requirements still are not cheap enough, or the market is not ready to adopt it.


This can lead to a situation where you try to push your innovation into the market too early, and it will fail. The concept of the correct timing is framed beautifully be Steven Johnson in his book "Where do Great Ideas Come From", if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do.

Never lose sight of the fact that timing and context matter. Being the most visionary person on the planet will never help you sell a product to people who simply are not ready for it.


There are three roads that your innovation goes down as you test versus the Balanced Breakthrough model. Your idea and the market is ready, so it's time to get to work. Your idea is ready but it's too soon or the market is not ready for it, in this case you can try to force your play early (not recommended) or park it and wait until you see more maturity. Third is that your idea fails the test and doesn't have legs, you need to kill it and move on; don't fall in love with your product if no one needs it. 

  

 

 

 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give your best stuff away

    This is an interesting and sometimes polarizing topic. One group of people believe that the more content (ideas, conversations, posts, videos, etc) that you put out into the world, the better your return is as you are connecting with more people and getting greater exposure. Another group feels that by investing all of this energy into giving away "free stuff", takes away from what you could be doing to grow your business, give to your clients or to your employer. That giving your stuff away doesn't pay the bills, so what's really the point other than feeling good. For me personally, I'm all about giving my best stuff away for free, and what follows are really my "whys". First and foremost, I don't really prescribe to the idea that anyone really has "best stuff". That's finite and fixed and I truly don't believe this applies to people the way it can be associated to things. If you are a miner, and you m...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Avoid the 'Quick Fix' Lure of Technology That's Stifling Your Creativity

  We live in a world that is obsessed with solving problems with a system or technology. How many times have you hear someone [basically] say "let's get an app for that"? Crazy. I'm all for shiny new things. I love my toys as much as you do.  Rarely however does that new systems, application or software suite fix any of the underlying issues. When was the last time you started using something new, either in your personal or professional life, and it immediately fixed your problem and you changed nothing about what you are doing. Often, what ends up happening, is that as businesses look to implement some new tech, they also end up having to change HOW they are doing things. The changes that are made to core processes is what drives the success. Using your phone to track your steps, your sleep, your workout or to even help you write. Pause for a second, think about any of those situations.  Tracking your steps and setting daily goals means that you are actually walking ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Delicate Dichotomy of “The Right Choice”

  The Best Decision Isn’t Always as Obvious as It Seems Your success at work is correlated to the quality of your relationships. Easy right? It’s common sense. You might even be wondering who doesn’t already know this. The challenge isn’t about attitude though. You’re right, nobody likes the as%ho^e — Don’t be that person. The challenge comes when you have to choose between being right or making the right choice. The Problem My team and I had been working on a large project that had been pushed back multiple times over the years. The market finally got to a point where the problem in the field had to be addressed. We dusted off our files and started looking at the information we had built 3 years prior. We made our plans for what needed to be refreshed and how we would go about it. We cut through the project quickly. The team had matured a lot in that time and those roadblocks from the past were mere pebbles on the road this time around. Cue the problem. The fundamental assumptions...
Post a Comment
Read more