well-being-through-progress
The progress economy reframes value creation by focusing on progress rather than static value. Progress is seen as a dynamic movement towards a more desirable state, with value emerging as this progress is made. This approach encourages systematic innovation by addressing progress hurdles and recognizing the complexities and multifaceted nature of value creation.
Progress Offered
What we’re thinking Progress offered is the progress state – capturing functional, non-functional and contextual aspects – a progress proposition offers to help a seeker reach. Ideally, it should match an individual seeker’s current progress attempt’s progress sought. However, such customisation can significantly raise the equitable exchange progress hurdle. To address this challenge, helpers often segment seekers by progress sought, offering one or more generic progress offered. This streamlines their efforts, allowing the equitable exchange required to reduce. Notably, some approaches to crafting progress offered encourage systematic deviations from the mainstream segment. Disruptive innovation and blue ocean strategy being two. We observe…
Progress Potential
What we’re thinking Progress potential is the progress state that an actor phenomenologically judges, at particular moment in time, could be reached in a progress attempt. It is regularly judged by progress seekers as part of their decision process to start and continue progress attempts, alone or with propositions. Progress helpers predict it for their propositions, where it becomes known as progress offered. And, in some cases, helpers judge progress potential with a particular seeker during attempts, influencing whether they withdraw access to their resources. Since value emerges through progress, progress potential is a prediction of future value. Innovation should…
Progress Sought
What we’re thinking Progress sought is the more desirable progress state – capturing functional, non-functional, and contextual elements – that a progress seeker wishes to reach. Upon reaching progress sought, the seeker likely recognises maximum value. It complements progress origin, giving us a fuller picture of a seeker’s journey and the gaps towards that. It also has a strong relationship with a progress proposition’s progress offered. We should be aware that there are three main external influences on a Seekers progress sought: Understanding a Seeker’s progress sought is fundamental to creating and evolving progress propositions, better segmenting markets, sales, and innovating. Progress…
Progress Reached
What we’re thinking Progress reached is the progress state that an actor phenomenologically judges to have been reached at a specific point during a progress attempt. These judgements relate to value in two ways. First it indicates how much value an actor feels has emerged by that point. Secondly, we find that for emerged value to be meaningful to the actor, they need to recognise it (like accountants recognise revenue). Predominantly it is the seeker that judges progress reached. Though in some cases a helper may in parallel judge progress reached. They may withdraw from helping if they feel progress…
Progress Origin
Progress origin captures an individual seeker’s starting state for the current progress attempt. It also captures the starting state a proposition offers to help make progress from. These two origins are likely to differ.
Progress as a verb and a state transition
The progress economy’s underlying premise: making progress to their more desired state is everything a Progress Seeker wants. What we’re thinking In the progress economy we believe Progress Seekers are trying to make progress with everything in their life. They are trying to get from their current progress origin to their more desired state (progress sought). It’s a progress journey. Progress can therefore be seen equally as: It’s a super-charged description of a job to be done, in the style of Chistensen and Ulwick. That leads us to further insights into: Understanding this progress journey sets the foundations for more…
Progress as a State
Progress has three, equally important, dimensions – functional, non-functional and contextual. Not understanding one or more will sink your innovation, sales, and growth. What we’re thinking Progress is a state – a snapshot comprising three elements, namely: Identifying and understanding all three elements is critical for understanding seeker’s desires, making progress, progress propositions, value, and pursuing successful innovation. Failing to do so may lead to the next super-market self checkouts… Progress as a state Progress as a state is a foundational concept in the Progress Economy. It frames how both Seekers and Helpers understand, and measure, progress journeys. We’ll even…
Progress as a noun
Several progress states – the waypoints and phenomenological determinations – are important enough in the story of progress that we specifically name them What we’re thinking In the Progress Economy, some progress states are significant enough to name explicitly. They serve as: These states form the basis for the story of how value emerges from progress (as progress comparisons). They are also essential tools for improving innovation, sales, and growth. Why naming matters Progress is moving, over time, to a more desired state. But where does a seeker start? What’s the end goal? How do we evaluate progress along the…
Progress Hurdles
What we’re thinking We’re eager to make progress…but what if we’re lacking the resources we need to do so?! Perhaps we lack the skills, knowledge, tools, maybe strength, or time, or… We’ve hit the foundational progress hurdle of the progress economy!! Luckily, progress propositions offer supplementary resources that aim to lower this hurdle. But, they might not fully, or might introduce new lack of resource. And propositions give rise to five additional progress hurdles: Higher hurdles imply lower judgements of progress potential, and therefore reduced value. Though we call these hurdles rather than barriers as some seekers may still attempt…
Tag: Progress
Anchor your thinking around Seekers’ progress and minimising progress hurdles, and you will outperform on innovation, sales, and growth, compared to those stuck on product features and focusing on value.
What we’re thinking
Progress – moving over time to a more desired state – is the new philosophy for understanding how the world works, solving the challenges our traditional value-first view gives us.
Imagine a world where innovation lands, sales resonate, and growth accelerates – not because we focused on value, which is surprisingly hard to actionably define, but because we focus on what we are truly looking for: progress. Value, it turns out, emerges from progress comparisons.
Progress is the beating heart of the progress economy. We’re all trying to make progress in every aspect of life: with our bodies, possessions, mental state, information, and intangible assets. We seek to get fitter, move faster, fix things, learn more, travel, reach goals – or simply get through the day more effectively. Progress is everywhere.
It is a:
- state comprised of three dimensions: functional, non-functional, and contextual/li>
- verb – moving over time to a more desired state
- state transition – an alternative way of looking at progress as a verb
- noun – it’s beneficial to name several states, such as progress origin, progress sought, progress offered, progress reached, progress potential
Why this matters
This framework reveals the engine behind everything from Jobs-to-be-Done and Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma, to Blue Ocean Strategy, Drucker’s innovate or die, Levitt’s warning of marketing myopia, the why behind Agile, and how to minimise the blind spots in our traditional value-in-exchange model (such as circularity); and much more.
Progress gives us the clarity and tools to better uncover innovations, craft sharper go-to-market strategies, and build offerings that resonate more deeply with the people we serve.
