Here are the 3 Things Any Idea Needs to Survive

Desirability
Feasibility
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.

Comments

This 1 Thing Increases Your Career Capital More Than Anything Else

The Art of Better Decision Making Have you felt scared to make a decision? Maybe you get preoccupied with making the 'wrong' decision? Did you know that 68% of people have admitted to not doing because they thought it would be harder than it actually is. Getting comfortable with making decisions is one of the biggest challenges new leaders face. You will be placed in situations where there isn't enough time to get all of the information. Or even harder, you will be placed in situations where you'll never get more information than what you have. The good news? Making better decisions is something that you can improve by being deliberate with your learning and how you choose to approach it. This is the approach I take to decision making. These have been test and is what I have used over my 15 year career to teach and develop teams. - Accept that you will make mistakes. There is rarely a perfect answer. Getting comfortable with ambiguity is a leadership muscle you need to

Grace Under Fire

Leadership is not a title, and it is not only something reserved for your professional life. One thing that has greatly helped me over the years is finding what is the same rather than focusing on why situations are different. There will always be differences and nuance with whatever you are dealing with, I challenge however, that there is more that is similar or relatable to something else than what is different. True leadership is about how you react, how you handle the circumstances in front of you. True leadership is also how you carry it. For every decision, position or action that you see publically, there are two to four times more that most people never see. Professionally or personally we all carry a lot, we are all going through something all the time. Being a leader means that you have to do more. It is your responsibility to still take care of your team, your peers, your friends, your family. You have to be a guiding light, a steady hand, a source of confidence and comfor

Ego

Ego is one of the hardest things to deal with as a new manager. You are in a new situation, you are most likely leading people for the first time, you are probably a bit younger ... and you just feel like you HAVE to prove yourself. This kinda makes sense right? You were obviously promoted because you knew your stuff and were really good at your old job, so now it MUST be your job to make sure everyone knows how good you are. WRONG! This is the number one mistake most new managers make. I totally get why, we have created this hierarchy in our corporate structures that makes people believe a good supervisor = a good manager = a good director = a good VP. This. Is. Completely. Untrue. The reality is that it takes different skills to be a good leader; and excellence at one level does not automatically mean excellence at the next. To be a good leader, you have to always be trying to check your ego. Yes you are smart, you probably have good ideas, you p

Search This Blog