Part I:

Seeking

“We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

Attributed to Epictetus, Greek Philosopher, b 55 d 135

According to National Geographic, the odds of being struck by lightning are about one in 700,000.¹

As an educated guess, the odds that an amazing innovation will simply occur to you, show up in your inbox, or come as a result of scraping trends from secondary source materials are also extraordinarily low.

To create innovation, you have to take action. There is no fixed formula. But a no-downside starting point is to listen — both to your inner voice, and to the sources of useful feedback in your surroundings. Some sources are obvious. Many are not.

Part I, Seeking, presents stories, advice and tools to help change makers be better at proactively listening for market insights, then blend them together to help:

• ➤ Define purpose that is important enough to earn your commitment;
• ➤ Identify the big market problems that you can solve within your business context;
• ➤ Connect your sense of purpose with the big problems;
• ➤ Take steps to convert your commitment into strategy and action;
• ➤ Shape solutions by tapping into your creativity, network, and know-how to prove value and growth potential, even when resources seem limited.

There is no set timeline, but those who act with speed and urgency gain the advantage. What most matters now is to create the foundation. That is where listening, insight, purpose, and commitment come into play. Why? The first chapters of this Playbook connect the dots between these elements and achieving results. Quite simply: You are setting yourself up to go after market opportunity. And you care enough about the goal to face down the many challenges ahead.

You may have a jumpstart with answers informed by life experiences. Founders like to share the stories of how and why their ventures began with a problem they personally experienced or saw in others, and cared about enough to solve even against the immense odds of ever succeeding.

Seeking behaviors come first, and benefit all aspects of the framework. The three chapters of Part I address:

• Discovery. Learning about users and buyers by exploring and synthesizing what you find in actionable insights.
• Purpose, passion, promise, and positioning. Knowing what you are committed to, defining a solution to a deep and wide problem, and establishing how to represent your purpose and promise in the market.
• Resourcefulness. A figure-out-whatever-it-will-take attitude and behaviors, knowing that money, time, and people resources will always be tight.

As you head off to explore, observe behavior and be attentive to nonverbal signals and cues. Find the truths that won’t be spoken. Sometimes the feedback is implicit in a question posed to you. Sometimes the best prompt to learn more about whether a user values a prototype is to say nothing — to make space for insight with a pause.

Set yourself up to innovate by being open — and as a result, allow for possibilities.