In the previous posts, we have discussed about identifying the strengths, passions, and needs. In this post, I’d like to quickly discuss about the thinking behind the order/sequence. 

In our discovery projects with clients, we start with the left side (strengths and passions), and the continue to the right side (customer needs).

Specifically, the order of the work looks like this: 

1. Strengths

2. Passions

3. Customer Needs

Getting the engines started

We start with the left side because it is easy to get started by talking about the company and brand you work with. In a similar manner, we choose strengths as the starting point because strengths are much more concrete while passions tend to have abstract elements. In other words, our sequencing is designed to getting our thinking and brainstorming engines started. 

Removing market-in bias

After tackling the left side, we then shift out focus to the right side, the customer. We don’t start our discovery projects with the customer side because that might frame thinking and brainstorming from a market-driven perspective. By starting with the left side, it also aligns with the view that purpose comes from within and it makes sense to start from the company / brand itself.

Review both sides

After you work through strengths, passions, and needs, review the left side to see if they spark any additional ideas for the right side, and vice versa to brush up your work. After this step, you should have a list of strengths, passions, and customer needs. In the next post, we will look at how to find the overlap between strengths, passions, and customer needs.