mindset

Creating Your Own Market

If a personal injury lawyer’s firm places numerous billboards along the most dangerous sections of the highway, are they creating a market? Do the billboards add distractions during the most demanding portion of a driver’s journey, potentially contributing to more accidents? Are they developing a market by advertising to that market?

We can create markets by being present in locations where people have known and unknown needs. A resort where we vacationed had an extensive lagoon pool. The pool rental shack gave the first two sea kayaks of the day out for a free half-hour every morning. Experience revealed to the owner that guests seeing the kayaks or paddle boards in the lagoon would drive more rentals than waiting for somebody to commit to the day’s first transaction.

Simon Sinek has an insightful story about the rule of two in shoe sales. Reducing choices to two pairs of shoes versus three or more created a more profitable market. Adding limits can actually increase our impact.

How might we create our market by aligning our values and actions?

A Stated Metric

In 2018, the New York University School of Medicine announced free tuition for enrolling students. A stated metric was the growth in attracting more diverse candidates and greater placement of primary care physicians in underserved areas. MarketPlace aired an update on the program’s progress. A quick glance at the stated metric suggests this effort has not yielded the anticipated results.

The hypothesis was that tuition was a significant barrier to entry, and due to the likelihood of student loan debt, medical students would select specialties that paid the highest salaries over primary care or other lower-compensation medical fields. ‘Free’ is complex and has not vacated all the anticipated barriers. The growth of diverse and challenged socio-economic students has not been as expected.

Leading with a metric can mask the more significant investment we seek to actualize. NYU’s School of Medicine has additional levers and strategies to launch to address the national shortage of medical professionals. The metric might get the headline, but the work that matters may be buried in the heart of the story.

A Year-in-Review

A year-in-review process is like investigating golf scorecards from the past 12 months. There was a script of how the rounds were intended to proceed (par) and the reality of the score we achieved. Setting goals for next year is like looking at blank golf scorecards for the rounds we intend to play. There is the ideal scenario, unfettered by any internal or external factors.

How might we leave room for the serendipity we will encounter along the way? Is the goal (par) equal to our abilities, equipment, playing companions, and mindset? How might we recognize the most transformative moments and best stories are often generated from the obstacles we face, not the predictable outcomes?

Questions That Change Outcomes

An innocuous question can solve a major airline crash investigation.

What questions do we need to ask ourselves and our team that might appear rudimentary but reveal significant barriers or opportunities? One of the best places to start is when providing orientation to new staff or board members. Their inquiry might open a new chapter for your enterprise.

Resistance

Resistance is a remarkable force for good and/or a formiable foe. It can appear in numerous forms, mechanical, psychological, chemical, environmental, and humanity to name a few. As winter grips parts of the northern hemisphere, our ability to adapt or subcome to cold is a form of resistance.

Making a decision has a layer of resistance embedded. Embracing homeostatis allows us to postpone resistance in some circumstances. Trying to navigate numerous choices creates points of friction and resistance in certain occurrences.

How might we prepare in advance for resistance points? How might we preload resources to overcome barriers that will postpone our progress? And, how might we adopt a mindset to honor resistance points that are impending signs of failure or damage?

Other Questions (Part Two)

It is probably quickly forgotten if we bring a stuffed animal to a hockey game and throw it onto the ice after the home team scores. However, if the home team holds a toy drive and thousands of stuffed animals are thrown onto the ice after the first goal, it is remarkable. Questions are similar; one rouge question might get a quick response, but a cascade of intentional questions can steer an enterprise’s future strategy.

What questions must you answer before you can ask another question?

Do you need to agree that contributed income is a vital source of revenue for your venture? Once established that contributed income is a priority, you can commence with questions about how your cause engages potential supporters in meaningful conversations about their philanthropy? The sub-questions have little value if we have not answered the essential question.

Symbols

Navigating relies on our ability to piece together clues and landmarks. A well-placed symbol might set us up for success in a country where the language is unfamiliar.

How might we use language and symbols to help our fans navigate? How might our websites, social media, publications, events, and programs clarify where to find us? When we create unintended barriers to entry, we start encounters with frustration and confusion.

Forced Perspective

We can achieve optical illusions when we use misalignment to create unique spatial relationships. In the social sector, this can be accomplished by making our cause’s impact appear greater or less. We deploy scales and comparisons showing greater or lesser barriers and success.

How might we spend less time creating illusions and more time engaging those who are committed to our journey? When we assemble the right expedition party, we do not need to reduce or build up the terrain we have chosen to navigate.