What Do You Do When The Rug Is Pulled From Under Your Feet?
So many people are going to go through some pretty hard economic times right now and into the future.
Jobs are going to be lost, people aren’t going to get paid, industries are going to collapse.
If this is you, you have two options:
- Do nothing; or
- Do something different.
Yes, there is likely going to be complaining in both.
The complaining is not the problem — the doing nothing is.
3 days ago, Melbourne International Comedy Festival got cancelled (https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/220/2020-statement).
*Let me be clear, I am not just picking on artists AT ALL, but this news, and what I am about to talk about is quite relevant to this industry…
Yes, the carpet got pulled out from underneath many peoples feet.
Yes, that is shit.
But, it’s not the end of the world!
With so much upcoming social isolation for what was traditionally an in-person industry, it’s easy to throw your hands up and give up.
“I can’t do my thing like this…”
I have seen multiple service providers saying this.
And that is what taxi drivers, banks, hotels, bookshops etc, etc ad initium said also.
Right now, and generally, I haven’t seen any consumer complaining about needing more in-person contact.
Consumers also seem to be pretty happy with Uber, Bitcoin, AirBnb and Amazon.
Regardless of how this shitstorm plays out, remote working is going to be commonplace in the future — I have no idea the timeline, but just wait till consumer VR hits mainstream.
We will never need to leave the house.
Literally, you could live in a cave, slip on a headset (or whatever the UI will be in the future) and be “transported” anywhere in the world.
Of course, this is a while away, but what is certain is we ain’t going backwards.
Who know what the next few months hold, but what I do know that will make hard economic times easier is thinking about how you can deliver their services differently.
While artists are looking for bailouts, I just helped a musician (for free — yes, I am doing unpaid work to leverage it when in-person melts even further) score a music video with minimum of 100,000 views for $100 on TikTok.
That is different, nor is it in-person.
They are gonna win, when lots of artists are complaining about Melbourne International Comedy Festival is being cancelled.
TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users.
You can put up any ghetto video and get 120,000 views on it for free — I did.
What do you think is gonna happen to that number in the coming weeks when everyone is at home?
It also ain’t going backward.
Yet, lots of people will say it’s for 13-year-olds.
Don’t go on there, do whatever you want, just don’t do nothing.
So, how do you deliver your services differently?
Here are five tools to help you:
- SCAMPER;
- Four Actions Framework;
- Related Worlds;
- Doblin Ten Types Of Innovation; and
- Buyer Utility.
Let’s explore…
SCAMPER
SCAMPER (https://er.knutd.edu.ua/bitstream/123456789/7479/1/20170321_EconFinance_V2_P037-040.pdf) is an acronym for:
- (S)ubstitute;
- (C)ombine;
- (A)dapt;
- (M)odify;
- (P)ut to another use;
- (E)liminate; and
- (R)everse.
You can use any number of those to change the delivery of an existing product, service or solution into a new delivery channel.
Four Actions Framework
Four Actions Framework (https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/tools/four-actions-framework/) outlines four tasks:
- Elimination;
- Reduction;
- Raising; and
- Creation.
These can take the delivery of existing product, service or solution and create a new delivery channel.
It’s related to SCAMPER.
Related Worlds
Related Worlds (https://socialinnovation.typepad.com/silk/2008/10/related-worlds.html) is a tool that asks you to look two different industries (or “worlds”) and see what one “world” does well in delivery that can be used in the delivery of your industries product, service or solution.
Doblin Ten Types Of Innovation
Doblin’s Ten Types Of Innovation (https://doblin.com/dist/images/uploads/Doblin_TenTypesBrochure_Web.pdf) outlines ten parts of a customer journey.
Each of these parts can be the focus of a new way to do that function (especially delivery) for a customer.
Buyer Utility
Buyer Utility (https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/tools/buyer-utility-map/) looks at six parts of a customer journey (especially delivery) and asks you to focus on how you could improve each of those based on another six utility levers.
It is related to Doblin’s Ten Types Of Innovation.
So…five tools to help find new ways of delivering your product, service or solution.
I also gave you a sixth.
Please do something!
Just don’t go back to complaining :-)
