Get Out of the Building

We’ve seen that great ideas are a team effort. As an innovator, that means your million-dollar idea is valueless if you keep it locked in your private Inception-style vault. This is also true on a company level: you may have heard the term “get out of the building”, coined by entrepreneur and author Steve Blank. In this case the building isn’t physical, though Batman and Robin have certainly had some interesting conversations during their iconically campy climbs.

Instead, you’re being asked to step outside the confines of your own presumptions and assumptions. Put everything you think you know about what you’re creating to the test. Instigate a series of conversations to hone in on what you should be creating.

Taking this newly-open mindset into action isn’t easy, but it’s necessary: the lean startup approach hinges upon testing your hypotheses and making sense of customer feedback. Sometimes you’ll prove yourself

Like a conversation with Socrates, these conversations can be arduous. As with skating in pools, they may occasionally be painful. As with recording Exile on Main Street, you may find yourself wondering what the hell just happened. If you stick with it, though, you won’t regret it. One way or another, you will know whether you’re building something that people truly want.