The Problem: Innovation isn’t delivering. Growth is stalling
Only 6% of executives are satisfied with their innovation initiatives
McKinsey
The world is facing a decade of stagnation — the “Tepid 20s”.
International Monetary Fund
» you’re investing in innovation
» are you just performing innovation theatre?
» your teams are out there selling.
» are you meeting your growth expectations?
» something’s missing…
The Shift: from value-first to progress-first
» we’ve spent years chasing value, but it is hard to define and action
» our previously successful model is running out of steam and relevance
» customers don’t want ‘value’; they want to get to a more desired state
» it’s time for a sharper lens: progress
Progress: a move over time to a more desirable state
Learning a language, getting nourished, searching faster, moving to another location, hanging up a picture, breaking cryptography,… understanding how a Progress Seeker wants to get from where they are now to their more desirable state, and what holds them back, gives us powerful insights into how to help.
The Core Idea
We’re all trying to make progress (functional, non-functional and contextual) with everything in our lives
We make progress through integrating resources…
As we progress, value emerges – maximum value when reaching our more desired state
We may lack some/all the resources needed to progress
Progress Helpers offer propositions (supplementary resources) intending to improve the potential progress
Getting closer to the more desirable state releases more value. Can we offer supplementary resources that address the functional aspect, as well as non-functional (cheaper, faster, safer, relieving, enabling…), and which support the context (constraints)?
That’s how we fix innovation and sales; and why we call customers, Progress Seekers.
Progress, as we describe in The Progress Economy, is deceptively simple. It is a:
framework for a deeper, more insightful, view into jobs-to-be-done and challenges in doing so
toolkit to systematically improve innovation and sales
operating system for understanding execution
The ultimate proposition is one that offers to help each Progress Seeker get from their individual starting point to their individual more desirable state; whilst minimising all of the six progress hurdles.
Leveraging The Progress Economy helps you create and offer the ultimate proposition, taking account of the trade-offs of realty.
» innovation and sales are two sides of the same progress coin
Innovation – improving progress
Innovation is all about improving progress a seeker can make towards their individual progress sought.
The Progress Economy reveals more than 15 innovation levers.
Using these guides more systematic and successful innovation.
Sales – Helping make best progress
Sales is all about aligning a proposition with a Seeker as their best way of reaching their progress sought.
The same innovation levers can be used to demonstrate this
And the sales process may lead to in situ innovation.
» apply the levers today and improve your innovation, sales and growth
Some examples of the levers:
Push the limits of what Seekers can achieve. Help get them closer to the progress they seek than they can achieve today.
Stay ahead of the evolving progress sought. But beware of Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma when chasing the most demanding Seekers as that can open you up to being disrupted.
Remove friction by reducing one or more of the six core progress hurdles. But beware these hurdles often interact: reducing one may increase another.
Accelerate when Seekers recognise emerged value to keep them engaged. Through smarter business models and/or refined delivery methods.
» actionable models to understand and drive systematic innovation
The Progress Economy is made up from 4 nested contexts:
Progress – what is progress (a verb, noun, state and state transition) and how does it relate to value?
Progress Attempt – how a seeker integrates (operand and operant) resources to make progress; and the foundation progress hurdle: lack of resource
Progress Proposition – how a seeker creates and offers progress propositions progress; and what new progress hurdles do those propositions raise?
Service Exchange – this drives the progress economy rather than value exchange; but there’s still home for price, money, and our updated views drive business model innovation
Four layers explain the operating system of The Progress Economy:
Foundation – what are progress, value, and resources? how service-dominant logic gives us the basis of evolved understanding
Decision – how seekers judge progress, hurdles, recognise value and value destruction and judge if exchange is equitable
Operation – how progress is made, what are propositions, and where how service credits mediate and lubricate service exchange
Strategic – what progress is being sought, what is offered? how we can segment by progress; what is innovation and how can we be more systematic doing it?
