This is worth a second or third discussion because it’s so critical to innovation. How do you take a pretty good idea and refine it until it’s brilliant?
The author’s lay out the following proposal:
1. Write* your value proposition. This is the NABC statement discussed before.
2. Share it. Get feedback. Collect new ideas.
3. Synthesize* the ideas and refine the value prop
4. Rinse and repeat.
Three notes.
First, this plan is fucking simple. This stuff is never that complex. It’s actually the “doing it” part that’s difficult.
Second, the book emphasizes writing the value proposition as opposed to just saying it. Write it down. Make it real.
Third, I love the word synthesis. It’s under-utilized. Synthesis is the “production of chemical compounds by reaction from simpler materials.” Or it’s the combination of ideas to form a theory or a system. Synthesis = combining simple things to make more complex things. Is there any greater force in the world?
I’ll also repeat some of the stuff from the last post, which is to put your ideas under scrutiny. Try to find their weaknesses, because if you don’t, the market or consumer will. This process should uncover insights from you and your team. Give yourselves the opportunity to be insightful; create the conditions for compounding ideas and brilliant thinking.