The messaging of an idea... continued — PART 1

Well it seems Renée Cormier is under the weather and our brilliant idea of a co-written blog series seems to be sputtering at the starting line. As we get our act together (and Renée gets better) I feel obliged to keep this warm and not lose our enthusiasm — very much like a runner in the city waiting at a red light; it can look silly sometimes but it's very important not to loose the momentum.

While we wait for the light to turn green I thought I would revisit my Guiding Principles and put a little be meat on the bone as they say — and this time I have prioritized them.

Don't pitch a solution looking for a problem

This comes from the simple premise that an idea is really just a solution to a problem, and that it is very important to understand that there is a correlation between the idea, the solution and the problem that it solves for. This is a favourite saying among investors who listen to ideas being pitched to them for a living — and it's always top of mind as to what problem the idea (solution) is solving for.

It's also gets you thinking from a prioritization perspective because not all ideas are created equal (the same with problems for that matter), and you want to focus on the ideas that solve for the biggest problems — that's what people are interested in hearing about. 

No one cares about your idea. It is your job to make them care.

Here's the thing, there are a countless number of ideas created each and everyday, and idea generation is something we can do easily without anyone's help (and do) — so it's safe to say there is a glut of them (and of course ours are the best). Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that ideas are commodities but rather that because there are so many of them they are perceived as generic until an idea becomes aligned with someone's problem. So there you have it — no one cares, why should they? It's overwhelming.

It now becomes your goal to make them care — and as they say, "This is easier said then done". And this starts scratching at the next three guiding principles, which help to make people care.

It is important you know your audience and what's important to them.

Not all problems are created equal, and beyond that, what may be a problem for one person may not be a problem for another person. In the same vain though, ideas more often than not offer solutions to multiple problems (and the people who have them) — all to various degrees. You need to understand the problem that the person you are aligning your idea with has, and be aware the audience will always be changing with regard to the degree of pain that comes with their problem.

 An example - "I have this idea for the greatest humane mouse trap ever"

• Person #1: "I have a problem with mice in my house and I love animals."
• Person #2: "My problem is the price of live mice for my pet snake is just getting too expensive"
• Person #3: "I don't have a mouse problem. My problem is I'm not happy with the return on my investments"

How you present your idea will resonate with each person differently — knowing your audience helps with this.

Complicated gets confusing and people lose interest when it's confusing.

Trust me when I say this is a Truism. I appreciate you live and breathe your idea, it's built off of amazing technology, there are countless white papers and government reports outlining the shift in the market, but all this information has me thinking of lunch — all I want to do is go. I know the devil is in the detail and we will get there, but not in the beginning. This even applies to the people who really like the detail and thrive on complicated.

Be uncomplicated.

Less is more

Less is more is not a method to make it less complicated, although it can be a bi-product. The point to be made here is less, if done properly, gives to a more powerful message. It forces the development of language and "delivery of the message" in a way that will resonate more powerfully with your targeted audience.

It's like the exercise when you take 1000 words and boil it down to 250 words without giving up on the message — a painful exercise sometimes but ultimately you end up with language that is "tighter", resonates more powerfully, and ensures your key points are razor sharp. And this becomes the language that finds its way into everything: formal presentations, elevator pitches, videos, blogs, or when you are sitting across the table from someone who has a problem.

So there you go.

I do hope Renée gets better soon — I find her insight invaluable.

iamgpe

The messaging of an idea...

It seems that lately I've been involved with optimizing how to present, developing a successful pitch, how to get a complicated message across to an audience, how to catch people's attention, and ultimately get someone to listen to an idea. Slides and discussions, discussions and slides — more slides, and definitely more discussion...

Maybe by the end of all this, it'll turn out to be as much a catharsis for me as any insight into the art and science of optimizing a message, but let's see where this takes us before we make a decision on that. I might as well start here —

About a week ago I happened to mention to an associate that I was working with a small team to build out a pitch for an idea that we wanted to put in front of some potential investors — as part of this mention I happened to add we were on draft 24 of the presentation when we had to make the "pitch". To that there was a look of surprise (along with a smidge of shock) regarding the number of iterations we had worked through, and this became the tipping point into a rather long conversation about optimizing a message — particularly if it was something as nebulous as an idea. Below are some of the considerations that ebbed and flowed throughout our conversation: 

• Why is a simplified message important? 
• What constitutes a complicated message? 
• What is the best vehicle for presenting a message? 
• Do you know your audience? 
• How do you boil down the message without losing meaning?
• Et cetera, et cetera.

And then we simply ran out of time and had to stop our conversation — something to be picked up at a later date no doubt. There was also no doubt this is a meaty topic — and frankly a very important one.

As this catharsis builds momentum it's very clear that this is bigger than one blog post, and although I have some insights in this area, there are others who have greater skill with messaging an idea — and more importantly, getting buy-in and moving it forward. My hope here is to engage those who are really good at it, expand the discussion, and make us a little better tomorrow than we are today. 

Since I was the one who started this, I'll put a stake in the ground and say I approach messaging any idea (or proposed plan) using these guiding principles when figuratively putting pen to paper —

No one cares about your idea. It is your job to make them care.

Complicated gets confusing and people lose interest when it's confusing.

It is important you know your audience and what's important to them.

Less is more

Don't pitch a solution looking for a problem

For right or wrong, this frames up my thinking process and the approach I use when messaging any idea — and I suppose, encourage me to write more in short order. To be continued...

And hopefully, just maybe, I'll get a little help from my friends,

iamgpe

More thoughts on businesses in transition... or Part Two.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Recently I wrote a blog on businesses in transition and quickly discovered that the topic was much bigger than a 500 to 750 word blog. In the spirit of what I started, this is the second in a series of thoughts on transition.

Transition (the noun) is defined as the process or a period of changing from one state (or condition) to another*, and with respect to business, I will say this is a constant state... the exception I suppose is when a business is stagnate (showing neither growth nor decline). Even this stagnation though will tip either towards growth or decline in time, and return the business to its natural state of change. BY DEFINITION, A BUSINESS IS ALWAYS IN TRANSITION... sometimes fast and sometimes slow, but always transitioning, one way or another.

One of the considerations that I put forward was Business Transition due to internal factors.

As a working definition, this transition and change in the organization is driven by internal activities and initiatives by leadership and employees to build a more viable and successful business. This is the transition that conjures up the images of people like Jack Welsh, Andy Grove or Steve Jobs whose leadership and vision created great companies and brands (not to mention a great PR machine that made them household names in business).

There are a number of elements that are needed to support this type of transition successfully but unfortunately often get forgotten or dismissed when the organization is small, or if the organization is large, can be unwieldy, administratively onerous, or make the organization slow to react to what's happening outside the company.

 

The first two elements are components of planning; the development of long term and short term plans.

The long term plan looks at the direction of the organization over the next five years... this is the strategic plan that ensures the organization is aligned with its vision, and keeps an eye on longer term goals to ensure short term activities have the evolution of the organization heading in the right direction. 

The short term plan looks at the next year and is very tactical regarding what needs to be done, how it will be done and what is measured to ensure success. This safeguards that the organization continues to drive activity in line with what it wants to do. In many cases the short term plan is part of the iterative process to get to the longer term goals.

Discipline is needed to ensure that the planning process is part of the business calendar, is properly resourced, and is actively communicated throughout the organization as a priority. Experience has shown that there are two critical components to the planning process: 

• A framework and process for planning: This will offer focus, context and a process for thinking when people meet around the table. I have always liked the McKinsey 7s model, and although a little long in the tooth, it has always worked to keep everything on topic and moving forward.
• A facilitator: You need someone designated to manage the planning process and ensure you end up with the deliverables... this also allows leaders the white space to develop their thinking, instead of focusing on the process.

 

The third element is the review of the people in your organization.

This is extremely important because people "run everything".

The only reason that this is not number one on this list is because you need to know what you are doing (and where you are going) before you can think about the people needed to help you. Every person in the organization should be assessed regarding skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses, so you can understand the capability of the people in the organization. This guides hiring, development, exiting, promotional opportunities and the skills (and people) needed for the future. This review is done at least once and year and supports the long and short term planning.

 

The forth element is having robust operating mechanisms to manage the business.

In other words, have a project and meeting calendar to execute the plans, and manage the workings of the business in an organized and on-going way. There is always a balance needed between not enough projects and meetings and having too many projects and meetings; in both cases nothing really gets done. What you are looking for is the perfect number of meetings and projects to successfully get things done... there are two main contributors to being effective, and that is leadership and having the resources available to get things done.

The fifth element is having as much transparent communication as possible.  

There are two aspects to this - 

• Communicate the vision, the plans, what needs to be done, how things are going, etc. as much as possible.
•  Work out the mechanisms as to how you are going to get your message out there and as deep into the organization as possible (town halls, quarterly reviews, team meetings, 1:1s)

The six element is a culture of urgency, meritocracy, respect, and curiosity.

This is the formula for success in my experience.

Can any of this guarantee success as you transition your business... unfortunately not. Although, not doing it, can almost guarantee difficultly through the natural transition of a business. And this isn't even before you consider external and revolutionary transition.

Not to worry, we will get to that soon enough.

iamgpe