What is the progress economy?
The progress economy enables systematic innovation. It is a 4-layer actionable lens on our world. Applying it, we can start:
fixing the innovation problem
…by hunting innovation more systematically
firing up growth
…get back to Drucker’s “firms have only 2 functions: marketing and innovation”
enabling circular economy thinking
…through seeing beyond today’s myopic value-in-exchange based logic
At its heart is a different, better, view of value. A belief that making progress is key. And where value emerges from making, and the potential to make, progress. Both of which are decided by the progress seeker. Rather than being embedded and set by manufacturers.
Here are some case studies.
It’s a lens through which we see progress as a joint endeavour. Made through a series of activities that mostly integrate progress seeker resources with those offered by a progress helper (in the form of a progress resource mix).
This viewpoint leads to the following natural flow of definitions:
Progress >>
moving, over time, to a more desirable state;
it is a verb, a noun, a also a state transition
…but the seeker often hits a high ‘lack of resource’ progress hurdle
Progress Proposition >>
an offer of resources (specific mix* + proposed activities) to help make some defined progress
* employees, systems, goods, physical resources
…but any offer introduces 5 new progress hurdles
Innovation >>
creating and executing new* progress propositions that offers some combination of:
i) helping progress seeker to make better progress
ii) helping progress seeker to make existing progress better
iii) reducing one, or more, of the six progress hurdles.
whilst maintaining, or improving, the survivability of the progress helper (entity/ecosystem)
* to entity/ecosystem, industry, market, or the world
Value >>
emerges whenever a progress seeker uniquely and phenomenologically judges the levels of (remaining) progress potential and progress achieved
is co-created through executing progress activities (value-in-use) which may start pre-sales and continue post-sales
can be co-destroyed if one or both actors hamper progress
And, from these definitions, and the tools behind them, we can more systematically hunt innovation. Including, but not limited to [under construction / links to come]:
Understand progress sought
innovate needed offerings through understanding progress sought (related to Jobs to be done theory)
Progress better
innovate to help make existing progress sought better
Better progress
Innovate to help seeker make more progress than they currently can
Blue Ocean
Find new markets by reducing, increasing, deleting or adding progress offered elements.
Disruptive innovation
Find progress offered which meets “good enough” progress sought and then successively innovate to offer more progress.
Alter the service mix
The fingerprint behind digitisation, digital twins, bricks to clicks, AI/machine learning.
Move along the progress proposition continuum
Innovate to become a more relieving or enabling proposition
The four actionable layers
We build the progress economy on solid foundations and broad shoulders. We’re informed by a foundation layer that includes service-dominant logic. This leads us to a set of fundamental definitions. Onto which we construct the following three layers:
- Strategic – What is progress?
- Operational – How is progress made?
- Determination – Who determines progress, and how?
And it all neatly plugs together, as shown below, to shine a light on how our world operates. Giving us the insights necessary for more systematically innovating, finding growth, and harnessing the circular economy.
Not shown is the foundation layer comprising service-dominant logic and definitions
Strategic layer >>
Operational layer >>
Determination layer >>
Foundation layer >>
The tools
It is within, and across, the four layers of the progress economy that we find a set of tools enabling a systematic hunt for innovation, growth and enabling circular economy thinking.
There’s no more struggling to find actionable insights in vagueness, such as the typical (vague) view that innovation is something new that creates value.
And the progress economy finally explains the why behind many current innovation theories. For example, Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne), Design thinking, Jobs to be done (both Christensen’s and Ulwick’s views) and disruptive innovation (in Christensen’s true sense).
the progress resource mix
A progress seeker often struggles to make progress on their own. They lack resources such as time, knowledge, skills, or knowledge of which activities are needed to progress. We call this the ‘lack of resource’ progress hurdle.
Progress helpers form offering to help seekers make progress. They propose activities and offer the missing resources in the form of a progress resource mix. Which is a mix of varying levels, including none, of:
- employees
- systems
- goods
- physical resources
Each element of the mix encapsulates skills and knowledge in different forms. There is no goods vs service discussion in the progress economy. Goods freeze the application of skills and knowledge so they can be transported in time and place.
Imagine your progress is to enjoy music. You can watch a live band – a mix that is employee-heavy. Or you could chose a goods-heavy mix, such as CDs or vinyl. Or more likely, nowadays, a system-heavy mix offering, such as your favourite streaming site.
Although such a simple “freezing” as this is not always so obvious. Freezing a handyman hanging a picture for you, for example, needs several different skills frozen in different goods (drills, wall plugs, hooks…). And you, as a seeker, need to integrate with them all, knowing the order and how to.
We also find there’s a progress proposition continuum from relieving to enabling propositions that gives us deeper understanding into the progress resource mix.
the progress proposition continuum >>
the six progress hurdles
We’ve seen that the intention of progress propositions is to reduce the lack of resource progress hurdle. However, the act of offering to help actually introduces 5 additional hurdles. Based around a seeker deciding to engage.
So we say, in the progress economy, there are the following 6 progress hurdles that the progress seeker needs to feel are sufficiently low for them to decide to attempt progress:
| hurdle | description |
|---|---|
| lack of resource | is there a lack of resource in either party that will hinder progress |
| adoptability | can the progress seeker readily see themselves using the proposition |
| resistance | will the progress seeker postpone, reject, or worse, oppose the proposition |
| misalignment | how far apart, on the service continuum, are the proposition and the seeker’s wishes |
| confidence | does seeker trust proposition and/or helper |
| effort elsewhere | how many service credits does a progress seeker need to get from elsewhere to engage proposition |
These hurdles to progress along with progress seeker’s determantion of progress achieved and progress potential inform their decision to engage, and keep engaging a progress proposition process.
more on the 6 progress hurdles >>
engagement decision process >>
case studies
[coming soon – anything below is likely to be a placeholder / work in progress at the moment…]
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Harnessing the circular economy
The combination of removing value-in-exchange thinking, understanding progress sought, and pulling the levers on the progress resource mix leads us to harnessing the circular economy.
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Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Where does Artificial Intelligence fit in the progress economy? Generally it’s part of the proposition resource mix.