A 7 year old’s journey to build grit through lessons in design thinking and entrepreneurship…with some help from her mom. Think of it like Product Management 101, but with a 1st grader.
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A recap.
If you are just joining Elena’s story, I recommend starting with Part 1 to catch up on all the details.
In short, she is on a quest to earn enough to buy a (ridiculously expensive) $1,500 robot. That is a giant goal for a seven year old and a wonderful lesson in grit.
Here is what Elena has learned so far:
- People don’t buy features or products, they buy solutions to problems.
- The best way to find a “good” problem is to come up with a lot of problems and then throw out the bad ones. This is the “go broad, then go narrow” process in the first diamond of design thinking’s double diamond.
3. Clarify the problem by turning it into a concise customer problem statement.
And that’s where we left off at the end of Part 1.
Part 2: Get out of the building.
Elena, like any newbie Product Manager, is eager to jump into solutions. It is so tempting because, for most people, solutioning is the fun part.
But if your solution doesn’t solve a real, important customer problem, no one is going to buy it.
So first, Elena needs to validate her customer problem statement by hitting the pavement and talking to some kids.
At this stage, she needs to learn:
- Do kids actually experience this problem?
- How are kids and their parents impacted by this problem?
- How are kids and parents solving this problem today?
The thing about assumptions.
“Why do we need to do this?” Elena asks. She is certain her problem statement is accurate and that other kids experience bedtime just like she does.
She’s seven, remember, and sometimes thinks she knows everything.
But you want to know something funny? Plenty of well-educated, grown up Product Managers and entrepreneurs have the same thought when developing a product or business.
Like Elena, they think the problem is obvious or universal. They forget that people have different life experiences, different opinions, different goals, so they skip past the problem validation step of the design thinking process.
Then they go on to build something no one wants, like a bluetooth-enabled toaster or a twitter integration for a fridge.
It can be a hard pill to swallow as a Product Manager, but your opinion is irrelevant. It’s your customers’ collective opinion that matters.
So, you need to go out to test your assumptions, and be willing to be proven wrong. Be wrong early so you can be right sooner.
“Hypothesis” is a magic word.
Back to Elena’s question, I answer that her customer problem statement is a hypothesis that needs to be tested. “Hypothesis” a big word I’ve used for years with Elena because it has magic powers.
“That didn’t work like you thought it would. What’s your hypothesis for getting a different outcome next time? Let’s test it out!”
“I can tell you are nervous to try this new thing. What’s your hypothesis of what will happen? Let’s do a test to see if you are right!”
The word “hypothesis” transforms mistakes and failures into lessons and learnings. It reframes obstacles and encourages endurance.
Sounds like grit, right?
That’s my hypothesis, anyway. Grit is simply the application of the scientific method to everyday life.
Off to the park.
Elena suggests going to the park to interview kids about their experiences at bedtime. She is excited, but also nervous about talking to strange kids at the park.
“What do I say?” she asks. “Let’s prepare a list of question,” I suggest.
“How do I get kids to talk to me?” she asks. “Let’s get some donuts and cookies from the store and give them away,” I propose. “That will make kids want to come up and talk with you.”
“I’ll make a sign!” she exclaims.
“Let me help!” adds her 5 year old sister, Luisa.
And suddenly, this turns into a group project and a girls day at the park.
One sign, a dozen donuts, and a box of cookies later, we make it to the park.
It starts off a little slow. Elena is nervous to approach nearby kids. And it doesn’t help that parents keep kids away from our table because they think we are setting up for a birthday party.
But eventually, things get going. Elena set a goal to talk to five kids. By the time we ran out of treats, she had talked to at least ten kids and some of their parents.
Her binder filled with interview notes, she calls it quits and celebrates her victory with a turn on the tire swing. There is plenty of work left to do, but it is important to celebrate the milestones along the way.
Watch a video of the experience:
Want to know what Elena does next?
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You can also join this email list for an early bird announcement of the launch of Elena’s yet to be determined solution. She is still a ways away from this, but it’s never too early to start building your Kickstarter list!
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→ Read Part 3: Digging for nuggets.
