define your business
forget chasing value.
discover how progress-first thinking
transforms how you sell, innovate and grow
The Problem:
Innovation isn’t delivering
Growth is stalling
Only 6% of executives are satisfied with their innovation initiatives
McKinsey
» you’re investing in innovation…but are you just performing innovation theatre?
» your teams are out there selling…but you’re missing growth expectations?
» something’s wrong…
The world is facing a decade of stagnation — the “Tepid 20s”.
International Monetary Fund
The Shift:
From value-first
To progress-first
few suppliers…are able to answer…How you define and measure value?
Anderson and Narus
» but we don’t really want ‘value’…we want to get to more desirable states
» our perception of value emerges from a set of progress comparisons
» it’s time for a more insightful lens: enabling progress
Progress: moving, over time, to a more desired state
The Progress Economy
progress: deceptively simple, deeply powerful
Learning a language, getting nourished, searching faster, getting fit, moving to another location, hanging up a picture, breaking cryptography,… understanding how a Progress Seeker (you and I) wants to get from where they are now to their more desired state, and what holds them back, gives us powerful insights.
Some very high level examples:
| Use Case | Progress Sought | Progress Origin | Seeker’s Lack of Capabilities | Context | Strategic Helper Opportunities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient support | Managing chronic condition + staying compliant with treatment regime | Newly diagnosed, overwhelmed | No medical skills or knowledge; does not possess measurement capabilities | Perform measurement at home themself | Loan consumer smart watch with reporting shared with healthcare provider. Wrap around services: coaching, support groups, periodic in-person healthcare visits |
| Net-zero transition | Credible, traceable emissions reduction | Fragmented reporting, unclear baseline | Data integration, trust, strategy | Regulatory scrutiny, investor demand | Carbon strategy consulting, carbon measuring services, verified audit trail |
| Sales enablement | Generate compelling, tailored, Request for Proposal responses | Generic collateral, low personalisation, non-consistent voice of messaging | Time and writing skills | Complex buyer journeys | Apply GenAI for: * document drafting * collateral searching * document reviewing * self-marking against criteria and improvement suggestions |
progress economy is a:
» framework
for a deeper, more insightful, view into what seekers are trying to do and their challenges
» toolkit
a set of tools for driving innovation and sales success
progress » progress attempts » progress propositions » progress hurdles » progress comparisons (value)
the link between Progress and Sales/Innovation is simple and powerful:
Sales
» aligning to help make best progress
» may result in local innovation
apply the progress economy levers » improve your innovation, sales and growth
Improve how Seekers reach the progress they can today »
Push the limits of what Seekers can achieve. Help get them closer to the progress they seek than they can achieve today »
Help a Seeker through reducing the resource gap to starting or removing nugatory resources »
Accelerate when Seekers recognise emerged value to keep them engaged. Through smarter business models and/or refined delivery methods. »
Meet
the Actors
Seekers: always seeking to make progress, with everything in life.
But often has a progress hurdle: they may lack the resources needed to make progress
Everybody is a Progress Seeker (even Progress Helpers are looking to make progress in something)
Helpers: offer progress propositions (supplementary resources) to enable better progress.
They can be:
» a Seeker that has overcome the lack of resource
» an entity that has deliberately set out to find resources to help progress
» trained by another entity to help progress.
Externalities: embed societal safeguards into a Seekers progress journey.
We’re looking at you governments, associations, society!
Interesting
Progress Economy Case Studies
(these are currently likely just placeholders)
Self checkout – profit over progress
Progress thinking helps us understand why self checkouts are failing (and where they suceed) »
Enabling the circular economy
The circular economy will only take off once we change our view of value (as in the Progress Economy) »
Blue Ocean Strategy
Leveraging Blue Ocean Canvas to explore functional, non-functional and contextual progress and find blue oceans »
Next Steps..
Check out the architecture
Start innovating, successfully
- Innovation Problem
- Innovation in the Progress Economy
- Progress levers