This is the first of a number of tools I plan on writing up to help you apply the ideas, principles, and frameworks of the forthcoming book on the Transformation Economy to your own business. These tools will enable you to develop, create, and guide transformation offerings that create greater value for your customers – wherever you may lie today on the Progression of Economic Value – and therefore create greater economic value for your business.
This tool guides you in creating a personal Progression of Economic Value as it relates to your own company or industry. It will allow you to understand where the economic value of your business has come from, and most importantly where it can go. It further permits you to explain your vision to others in your company, and possibly to use with your customers so they see how you differentiate yourself from competitors who remain at lower levels of the Progression. You may choose either the perspective of your industry or your individual enterprise, depending on which you think offers the most value to you. You can also use it for internal transformations, such as with human resources or learning & development, and even for your individual role as employee, executive, consultant, guide, etc.
Thinking Richly about Your Offerings
To start, focus on these questions:
What is the core commodity, or commodities, of your business or industry?
What goods are manufactured from these raw materials?
What services are delivered for these goods, on these goods, or surrounding these goods?
What experiences can these services be turned into, or used to generate demand for the lower-level offerings?
And finally, what transformations can use these experiences to guide customers in achieving their aspirations?
The idea here is to create a Progression of Economic Value that really “sings”, that lets you explain your business or industry to others in a way that they can see how value increases as it goes up, and how it should be shifting from goods & services to experiences & (especially) transformations.
Create a Progression of Economic Value that really “sings”
Here are some guidelines, with several examples: