I do a lot of things. My favorite is writing fiction.
Like most hobbies, I have lots of time and money invested in my “book babies.” And, like most babies, my books are in no hurry to pay me back.
Now, before you feel too bad for me, know this … while my books are deadbeats, the skills I’ve developed as a fiction writer have pay me back every day in business.
The most beneficial skill for business is World Building.
world building 101
Every story takes place in a world. That world will have a unique set of characteristics/rules that determine what’s possible and what is impossible. Illustrated simply — a story that takes place in an underwater world will follow a different set of rules than a story that takes place in the desert “world.”
Want to break the world’s “rules?” No problem. If you need to breathe under water, invent a special weed that grow gills on your protagonist when he eats it. To allow your protagonist to survive in the desert, maybe you give her a suit that recirculates the moisture created by her body, keeping her hydrated without the need for fresh water. You get the picture.
Good writers build working worlds for their characters to struggle, thrive, live and die in. Good writers overthink their worlds and know full what’s possible and impossible. And, if they want to do the impossible, what needs to be invented. Good writers don’t have heroes that kill bad guys with a gun that just happened to be laying at their feet when their door gets kicked in. Good writers know there must be a reason there’s a gun in the house. A reason why that gun is kept in that place. A reason it’s safer to keep it where anybody can pick it up and shoot it, than locked safely away. A reason that someone had to invent a “gun” in the world their story takes place.
A good fiction writer knows what will work and what won’t in their world. And, knows how to invent solutions that twist the rules of their world to make what seems impossible, thrillingly plausible.
World Building in Business.
Every human lives in a world that has real and perceived rules that rule the place. What’s possible in your world? What’s impossible in your world? Businesses are no different. The value proposition you offer is very appealing in the world that you created. It’s going to work in your world. Why else would you invest your time and money into it?
The Problem is. We build businesses for oversimplified worlds that live mostly in our imaginations.
I work from coffee shops whenever possible. I’m in a coffee shop right now. I meet a lot of interesting people in places like this. A few summers ago, in the coffee shop across the street I met two guys riding their bikes from Portland Oregon to Portland Maine. They learned a lot about the world of cross-country cycling in the 2,400 miles they logged before stopping for coffee in Rochester, Michigan.
I’m a cyclist. My favorite ride is ODRAM — a 150-mile, one day ride across Michigan. It’s a long day in the saddle — but nothing compared to what these guys were attempting. Excited to talk, I got to ask lots of questions. My favorite:
“What is the biggest mistake people make when attempting a ride across America?”
Their answer was simple and to the point —
“People pack their fears.”
They pack for every worse-case scenario. When they start their ride, they have baggage — lots of it — because they don’t know the world they’ll be riding through. And, where where there is uncertainty, people fill that uncertainty with fear. Lots of expensive gear litters the first climbs on the foothills leading to the Divide.
In the same way, lots of big old businesses and fresh new start-ups design solutions for a world they know very little about. Like witches sharing a single eyeball, they surround themselves with people who see the world exactly the way they see it. They try to save undersea worlds with innovations created for desert dwellers. They design for a world they’ve never traveled. And, worse, they don’t value the stories of those who have traveled to these worlds.
So what do you do?
1. Surround Yourself with Well-Traveled People.
People who have seen, faced and overcome challenges you didn’t even know existed. Instead of passing around the eyeball, hire lots of eyeballs that have seen lots of things you know nothing about. Ask these people to test your ideas, to help kill the ones that won’t survive in the real world, and to make the promising ones better. We all have biases and blind spots that help us believe lies about the world we live in. With the right people around you, you can see the real world and invent the things that make it a better place to live.
2. Know Your Humans.
I can’t do this justice in this post. So, I’ll leave it at this …
regardless, if your business is at the bottom of the ocean or middle of the desert, if it involves humans, you’re solving for a “human” problem that needs a human solution.
Fiction writers call the humans the “characters.” Businesses call their people customers and employees. When I was just getting started as a writer, I read a lot, watched a lot and listened a lot to the advice of writers I admire. Here’s the one piece of wisdom I use most — just as often in business as I do in writing.
“When you get stuck on what to write next, ask your characters what they want and help them get it” — or prevent them from getting it.
When you really understand the deep needs of your customer, you’ll know what needs to be written … or changed, or invented … or rejected … or approved …
To put a bow on today’s rant, consider looking at your business like a fiction writer.
Understand the world you do business in — not what you hope it is, or what it used to be, or what you imagine it is, or prefer it to be. Know your world and keep knowing it — because it changes every day. You business will not work if it is not built for the real world. And, your world will inspire your business if you let it. Second, humans are complicated. Lots of great ideas fail because we expect that a good idea is enough to get someone to buy. It’s not.
There are a lot of great books to read on the subject. My new favorite is The Human Element by Nordgren and Schonthal. Start there. Also, the best 12 bucks I spend each month goes to hbr.org. Both of these will help you understand the real world and the things that move humans.
More soon.
