Tag Archive for progress

How many entrepreneurs does it take to change a lightbulb?

January 5, 2012 Business, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Progress, Social Enterprise No comments

This ‘joke’ format is as old as the hills, but how would we answer that question for the entrepreneurs of the 21st century? How many such entrepreneurs DOES it take to change a lightbulb? The answer is apparently none, because of progress:

1. They are too busy looking for investors for their patented kinetic glowing ceiling;
2. They have outsourced home improvements to India and arranged for it to be done while on vacation at Lake Tahoe;
3. The bank of LEDS are controlled by an app on their smart phone;
4. The re-engineered lightbulb regenerates automatically;
5. They are busy examining what change means – does it mean replace the bulb or alter what we consider the function of a lightbulb to be.

We probably will have lightbulbs for a little while yet, but emerging entrepreneurs should be learning the business case for making our world a better place, in terms of both the planet and individual consumers. i.e. Does your product improve my world? If not forget it because I’ll tell everyone in my network who will tell everyone in their network and so on and you won’t make it out of the blocks.

So how do entrepreneurs determine what products will do the job of improving our planet to creat wealth, add value? Business models based on monologue with consumers (create something and people will buy it) seem arrogant and risk being out of touch. Business models that have authentic dialogue with consumers are more likely to have the resilience that the pace of change demands. Furthermore there are clearly huge amounts of data that we can already access, and the platforms to create and analyse yet more are becoming increasingly sophisticated. But progress lies beyond dialogue and crunching data. This is about creating a level of engagement that not only invites the customer to create content and develop products, but also entrusts the responsibility for future growth with the conscious and unconscious ‘consumer collective.’

Perhaps the question ‘how many entrepreneurs does it take to change a lightbulb’ is therefore the wrong question. A better question for nextgen entrepreneurs might be ‘how can we change light together?’

10 Powerful questions to ask

December 30, 2011 Disruption, Progress No comments

When people ask us for help we usually slip into solutions mode. We are well-meaning and want to impart the benefit of our experience, creativity and charity.

But how do we know we’ve asked the right question? What’s the point of a list of ten brilliant solutions if we’ve asked the wrong question?

HSSE Mentor – Simon Paine from Shedlight on Vimeo.

We tend to have more commitment to something that we feel we ‘own’ and asking questions that increasingly get to the nub of the underlying issue allows us to make progress without being disempowered. You know you’ve asked a great question from the body language of being caught off balance.  The sharp intake of breath, the sideways upwards glance and the long pause.

We gain such fantastic clarity when we are given head space to explore OUR OWN answers to the best questions. The alternative is to be hit with the wisdom of someone who loves to solve other people’s problems because they are easier than their own.

Instead of looking for answers, try and ask the right questions. You’ll love the results. Here are some to try:

1. What result do you want?

2. What would a wise man/woman do?

3. What is holding you back?

4. What do you need to do next?

5. What is your blindspot?

6. What advice would an 80year old you give?

7. Who will you learn from?

8. When will you be satisfied?

9. When are you at your best?

10. What would make it ‘wow?’

 

We spend too much time searching for answers and not enough time searching for the right questions.