Why No One Needs Your Thneed
start with the value, then make the thing
Phil wanted to build a big business.
So, he took the resources he had available and made a Thneed. A thing with a name that doesn’t mean anything. A thing that can do anything for everybody.
He then put his energies into telling as many people as he could that they needed it (whether they did or, more likely, did not) so he could get bigger and bigger.
The first problem with this logic is that it assumes that you and your team want to be a cog, making and selling useless fluff to generate even more profits for an increasingly bigger machine.
Most of us don't.
More importantly, trying to do everything for everybody is a surefire way to drown in the noise.
Instead of looking around and saying, “What might I make that I can convince a lot of people to buy — whether they need it or not?”
Ask “How can I improve someone’s life in a meaningful way?”
This question causes two shifts:
You’re starting with the value rather than fabricating it later
That value is delivered to someone specific, not everyone under the sun
These shifts don’t mean that you’re now restricted to building something that’s the business equivalent of Mother Theresa. There are a lot of ways to improve someone’s life.
That could be by solving a problem. It could also be by making something they need to do easier. It could also be by sharing knowledge or adding to our culture.
These shifts do mean that you have critical focus. Delivering this value is the reason you exist.
It’s the point of everything you do.
Now you can make deliberate choices and make something someone specific actually needs.
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