“The more original your idea, the more resistance you will meet.”
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Archives
Frameworks.
Jul 10, ’11
12:30 PM
I think I’ve always been interested in solving problems, and when I’m asked to describe my strengths, “problem solver” is a phrase that immediately comes to mind.
In my experience, there are three steps to problem solving:
- Identify & understand the problem
- Choose or build a framework in which to solve the problem
- Come up with the solution (or solutions)
For many of the problems I’ve tackled over the past several years (many in the form of specific projects), the “framework” has remained fairly constant: it typically involves the creation of a team organizational chart and a conceptual visual that depicts the project’s “end state.”
While this model works well for project management, it doesn’t fare as well for creating business models.
Historically, business models tend to be verbose and full of financial analysis and risk-oriented topics. In many cases, this results in a business model that is too detailed, lacks true understanding and prone to gaps / errors.
In the book “Business Model Generation“, the authors present a different way of creating business models through the use of a modular graphic, or “canvas.”
This “canvas” approach streamlines the process of creating new business models by allowing participants to focus on the core subject matter vs. having to constantly remember how the pieces “fit” and whether anything has been missed.
Here is what this framework looks like:
I found this approach to be particularly useful, so much so in fact that I used it during a recent interview. One of the questions posed involved identifying several key aspects of introducing a credit card portfolio to a company’s product suite.
To answer this question, I drew two canvas’ on the whiteboard. The first represented the “as is” state and the second represented the future state, one where I had successfully integrated a credit card portfolio into their business model.
I used these two visuals to explain or identify:
- what would need to change
- where resources would be required
- sources of revenue
- potential opportunities
- sources of risk
Once I was able to tell this initial story, I found I was able to answer additional questions much more easily now that I had a solid foundation to work from.
When problem solving, the use of a problem solving framework is, I think, essential to long-term success. Once you find the right framework, you can continue to refine and expand its use, which can lead to more efficient use of your time and can open up possibilities in other areas as well.
When asked a problem that involves getting from point A to point B (physical location or point in time), duplicate the framework to show what sections need to change. Once you have a grasp on the original framework, replicating and showing the delta between the two versions is easy.
It’s at this point where you can spend most of your energy solving the real problem, and that’s where the fun really begins!
Foretelling the Future.
Sep 19, ’10
5:51 PM
I have been reading Isaac Asimov’s Prelude to Foundation (first published in 1988) off and on over the past several months. I found it interesting that several passages towards the middle of the book bear a close resemblance to features found within Amazon’s Kindle:
Display:
“The pages aren’t blank, they’re covered with microprint. [..] If I press this little nubbin on the inner edge of the cover – Look!” The pages to which the book lay open was suddenly covered with lines of print that rolled slowly upward.
Navigation:
Seldon said, “You can adjust the rate of upward movement to match your reading speed by slightly twisting the nubbin one way or the other. When the lines of print reach their upward limit – when you reach the bottom line, that is – they snap downward and turn off. You turn to the next page and continue.”
Power:
[…] “Where does the energy come from that does all this?”
“It has an enclosed microfusion battery that lasts the life of the book.”
Storage:
[…] This type of book has its advantages. It holds far more than an ordinary visual book does.”
Whether the origins of the Kindle started with these passages, I am unsure. In any case, Asimov’s role was not to develop an electronic reader – rather it was to develop an idea that others could take and build upon. In this particular case, this fictional concept was eventually developed into a real product.
This is important to understand because the lifespan of a given concept is, I think, undefined. We may never know where Asimov obtained the seeds for these passages, just as we do not yet know what other technologies may come from the electronic reader.