The magic for changing the game in an industry or in life is usually right in front of you… it is just a detail or a gap that you don’t see. Or you may frame the problem or opportunity differently. Language—and how you think about a value proposition or look at the solution to the problem from a different perspective—can be very enlightening. Mostly because you may be too close to the situation, or you have been in the industry to long, or you typically just don’t pursue all of the details in a given situation.
My wife always says she can’t complete the puzzle without all the pieces. I have a tendency to think everyone knows all the details of the opportunity or problem we are addressing. The point here is that to really get to changing an industry, you must dig deep. Dig deeper than you ever thought you needed to. Increase your understanding of the industry or the problem better than anyone has ever done. This is where the magic is, because through this process you will uncover one little detail, one little unnoticed nuance that makes a shocking, unfathomable difference in the business, opportunity or situation you are looking at.
Today, I was in a boardroom of a company in the health care space. Since I was early for the meeting, they settled me in the boardroom (which, by rule, I never sit in while waiting because I like to absorb everything I can see, and focus on every word I hear from the staff) but since I was in the boardroom, I began reading all the patents which hung on the wall.
In reading the patents, it was obvious to me that this inventor, the CEO, was brilliant at seeing the details and recognizing the gaps in a huge industry like health care that everyone else was missing. When I met her I told her I read the patents on the wall and gave her kudos for her accomplishments and she told me her story.
She began as an internal medicine doctor in France, came to America and had to go back to medical school and do a residency to be able to change her specialty to pediatrics. Oh my! Then she said the magic words. When she set out to create her company 20 years ago, none of the employees she hired where from health care, so they where looking at the problems with different eyes. That helped her create products where nobody was playing and she did. I could only say “bravo!”
My question to you is, are you willing to dig deep on the details in whatever problem, opportunity or situation you are in? If you are, the magic is there. Yep!
Tally Ho!
AZ
