We sell a method for getting teams unstuck on positioning.
We've been stuck on our own positioning for years.
At some point the two must collide.
We've tried to run our method on ourselves before and it was hard. So this time we roped in a dear friend to run the process on us. Properly this time. We recorded the debrief while walking along with our two-month-old strapped to Tom's chest. This is all about workshop number one out of two: this is the "introspection" part, before any of the awkward conversations with strangers have happened.
Including-but-not-limited-to:
Why our first attempt at this failed, and the frustrating difference between people who find your method interesting and people who have the problem it solves
An offhand comment from someone we asked for a referral that changed our conception of who the buyer might be
"Go-to-market hell" ... the phrase a stranger handed us to describe eighteen months of a large company's very expensive work
Why at leat half the value of the process comes from stuff that's not officially part of the process
What we noticed about every business disagreement we've witnessed ... and why arguing about the data will never fix it
Whether something that's not a turnkey process can be taught, including Dave Snowden's plastering story
When did rules stop being judgement calls? We waddle off on a little detour into the surprising history of rule as hard-and-fast line
Picking at a scab that isn't quite ready to come off (Something you want to think about? No. But is it a good analogy? Also no.)
For anyone who sells a method they've never quite managed to point at themselves.
Recorded while walking, featuring occasional wildlife a small human.
References
Brian David Hall — facilitated the introspection workshop, and the episode's original audience
Ben Sauer — "you make it feel safe for people to be wrong"
C. Thi Nguyen's books Games: Agency as Art and The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game (correction: The Score is the synthesis of the games/metrics tension, not a separate third book)
The illusion of explanatory depth (Rozenblit & Keil)
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