Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

Crossing the Chasm

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I feel like I read this book without breathing. Some things just come along at the right time.

Geoffrey Moore’s iconic book, Crossing the Chasm, focuses exclusively on marketing strategies in the high-tech start up world, but I couldn’t help but to see numerous parallels. I’m the founder of a [still-newly-born] experiential education company called the Odyssey Institute, which in many respects couldn’t be more different. But our need to develop an effective marketing strategy is as real and essential as it is any high-tech start up. Here’s what I’ve learned from this book so far…

crossing-the-chasm

The Chasm

The chasm is the fathomless void that exists between where you start and where you need to end up if you want your company to become sustainably profitable. Don’t get me wrong, its actually possible to still be in business in year 10 without crossing the chasm – you just won’t be enjoying it much!

A chasm crossing is a profound experience for a company as it involves an evolutionary leap in corporate identity, with all that is implied for your company’s products/services, systems and people.

The Early Market 

One thing you can guarantee about a new product is that its far from perfect, but somehow these things still get sold. So who would buy a far-from-perfect product? Well, we probably all have at some point, but generally the answer is enthusiasts and visionaries – or what Geoffrey Moore refers to as “techies”. 

We have a handful of enthusiastic and visionary clients that make up our current early market share. We wouldn’t exist without them. In our case these folks are not techies in the IT sense, rather our techies are passionate educators who are looking for innovative educational products and solutions to the issues their students (and schools) are facing. Our techies are even willing to help create those solutions; they’re willing to get involved, buy a far-from-perfect product and go out on a professional limb. That’s an exact parallel to Silicon Valley.

Some of our techies are our friends and colleagues from previous jobs; they are our network of kindred spirits and share our passion for experiential education, holism and – most importantly  CHANGE. Working with them has allowed us to develop an initial product and get it into the market place. We’ve successfully done that and thus officially launched!

Our initial service was a series of field trips in Bali, Indonesia. I designed educational experiences to be facilitated in very unconventional classrooms (i.e. amidst rainforests and ancient temples) and used my network to both refine and sell these services. Although continually growing, my network is relatively small and the amount of sales we’re acquiring and retaining is far from the vision of greatness and profitability that I set out with. Suffice to say, we’re still entrenched in the early market sector, where we’re dependent on our slowly growing cohort of enthusiasts and visionaries.

The early market sector isn’t necessarily a bad place for us to be right now and we’re not in a hurry to leave it behind (despite the roller coaster of financial insecurity on this side of the chasm). We’re just starting our third year of operations and are still very focused on market research and product development. I guess that never stops, but you’d better be pretty sure you’ve got a solid foundation before you attempt a crossing. I don’t think Odyssey is quite there yet.

Beyond the Early Market

As we solidify our position in the early market our trajectory across the chasm is slowly revealing itself. Over the last two years we’ve been tip-toeing up to the edge of the chasm and staring across at the other side. Our early successes and loyal techies have lead us to the edge and we’re now beginning to engage with the pragmatists and conservatives of the mainstream market beyond. These pragmatists and conservatives are the faculty and administrative staff of the most established educational institutions in South East Asia. By definition they have a low tolerance for risk and a general disdain for anything “cutting edge” (despite often appearing to champion such values). The want “whole products” that have been tried and tested. They’re willing to pay more for them, but they’re also willing to wait almost indefinitely (or even just take their business elsewhere) if the service provider isn’t quite up to par. Needless to say this is a far less personal and substantially more bureaucratic kind of relationship. 

Geoffrey Moore encourages start ups to cross the chasm by finding a “beach head”. Its a 2nd World War D-Day analogy, but it works. You cross the chasm by penetrating a niche-market with your [by-now-hopefully-pretty-well-developed] product/service. You identify a specific point of entry (beach head) and aggressively go after that market segment with everything you’ve got. Once you go for it, its do or die time!

Choose your weapon

A key decision to make before a chasm crossing is which product/service to really get behind. We have a small, increasingly focused range of services that we’re offering and aren’t quite ready to choose. Our middle school field trips are doing really well, but our Odyssey Film School is also looking really promising. So for now we’ll keep looking to build our early market position and further establish our programs and reputation. I figure when the time is right we’ll know and at some point in the next 6-12 months we’ll have the clarity and momentum we need to leap across.

Activist Media workshop

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One of the most exciting break-out projects I’m working on right now is the Odyssey Film School. Its a 10-day workshop that we will be running on international school campuses as part of their summer school offerings. First up is International School Bangkok in June 2014.

To get kids excited about this and to clarify our agenda, I designed a short critical thinking / brainstorming exercise that can be facilitated free of charge in any school with students interested in digital media. Then I went on the road and tried it out. So far its been really exciting to facilitate and really well received. Here’s how it goes:

Critical thinking exercise part 1: organize the space and set the tone 

First of all you need to set the tone. Students are often not particularly comfortable sharing personal information (even just opinions) in front of large groups, so I always start by breaking them into smaller groups. This activity plan is based on the assumption that we have a group of about 20-30 students (the average class size). The exercise takes about 30 minutes – but you can take a little longer of you have the time (just play with the debriefs for a little longer after each question).

Split students into 4 groups. Either let them decide or you do it. Groups need to be of roughly equal size. Each group will then be asked the same question but need to answer it from a slightly different perspective. Perspectives range from local to global. Most recently when I facilitated this in Jakarta, I used the following four “perspective categories”:

1. Your school

2. Jakarta

3. Indonesia

4. The world

The questions

QUESTION # 1: Create a list of the top 3 issues you face today (social or environmental or both). Remember to answer this question from your group’s allocated perspective. You can write down as many as you want initially, but then have to create a short list of three.

NEXT: ask a representative from each group to share their conclusions.

QUESTION # 2: How do you know about these issues? How did you receive the information? Please write down a list of the sources of this information – i.e. family and friends, TV, newspaper, etc. Now please estimate the percentage of this information that comes from a digital media source.

 

NEXT: ask a representative from each group to share their conclusions.

QUESTION # 3: How much of the information about your top 3 issues focuses on the solutions to the issues? Create a rough percentage – for example if you watched 100 minutes of TV how many of those minutes would be looking at the solution and how many would be looking at the problem? If its 80 minutes focused on the solution and 20 on the problem then that’s your percentage.

 

NEXT: ask a representative from each group to share their conclusions.

The debrief… patterns / observations / 

 

Predictably, students invariably create statistics that suggest that most of their knowledge about issues outside of their immediate family and/or local community come form digital media sources.

 

The inverse is also true: the closer to home the issue and the more “local” the perspective they were asked to represent, the higher the likelihood of the information sources being non-digital media.

 

Students usually estimate the percentile of digital media coverage to be 70-90%.

 

Students also usually estimate the ratio of issue : solution news coverage to be about 80:20.

 

QUESTION: How do you feel about receiving so much information about issues and problems with so little focus on the solutions?

 

A common response to this question is silence, at which point I usually say, “exactly!”. Generally in life when we are confronted with a challenging / stressful situation to which we do not have a solution we do one of three things; fight, flight, freeze (silence is a freeze). This then becomes a segue into a conversation with the students about Activist Media: about how they can harness the power of digital media to make change happen.

We’re striving to do that through our collaborative partnership with the Paradigm Shift Project and the newly-formed Odyssey Film School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OI Performance Evaluation

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Performance Evaluation

 

I wanted to develop a framework for reflection and meaningful dialogue at Odyssey. I wanted it to emphasize the company’s core values and for them to be a point of reference as staff consider their performance.

 

The key concept here is holism, a concept further unpacked in the actual wording from Survey Monkey, which is below. We are an experiential education company which means we provide students with opportunities to learn by doing. As our focus is on the environment, culture and leadership development, we provide a dynamic range of experiences in natural settings and amidst unfamiliar cultures. Thus the experiences we facilitate are multi-sensory and engage multiple intelligences. For us that’s deeply exciting as it greatly increases the depth and breadth of potential learning outcomes and also the likelihood of an experience being meaningful. And let’s face it, anything we try and teach kids that isn’t meaningful to them goes in one ear and out the other.

 

So with this passion and insight in mind, I wanted to find a way to allow staff to learn and grow and also stay very conscious of our core culture. Odyssey staff basically fall into two categories: they’re either administrative in orientation with a focus on some aspect of logistics, sales, admissions and all the associated communications, or they are facilitation oriented and predominantly concerned with program development and delivery. Whichever category they’re in, they inevitably overlap quite a bit and all need to have a strong relationship with our core values and mission. As such, I felt it made sense to develop one evaluation tool that worked equally well for both admin and facilitation staff.

 

Being a really new company with a need to keep overheads low, we set up a  free account with Survey Monkey and haven’t yet found a need to upgrade it. The following questions usually take staff about 60 minutes to answer. Part time facilitators do this after every program they run for us. Full time staff do this about once a quarter. The following is taken directly from our Survey Monkey questionnaire. Once complete staff notify my and we arrange a time to check in and talk through their answers. I think most of them will tell you that this feels a little burdensome, but once they’ve done it and we get to the bit where we are able to talk it tends to be a very powerful reference tool.

 

Feel free to take and use anything you feel is useful…

 

About the Performance Evaluation (PE)…

 

This tool has been developed to allow the Oi team to effectively and efficiently review their performance after every program.

 

The foundation of Oi’s teaching methodology is principally concerned with experiential education. People learn most effectively by doing because the more of a human being’s core self you are able to stimulate, the greater the likelihood of generating meaning (learning). 

 

At Oi we believe that Human Nature is comprised of five parts: we all have a mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual self. The idea with experiential education is to teach by engaging as much of a human being as possible (that is to say, a dynamic range of senses and parts of self). Sometimes this is referred to as holistic education.

 

It follows, then, that in order to be an effective holistic/experiential educator, you need to have a well-rounded (holistic) skill set. In other words, you need to develop your facilitation skills within each of the five core fields of self. The following questionnaire breaks down those five fields and provides concrete examples of the kinds of skills that Oi expects to be in place in a highly evolved facilitator. 

 

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1. FIELD 1 :: SOCIAL… Your skills in this area relate primarily to your ability to cultivate and effectively manage positive relationships with a) your Oi team; b) the teachers; c) the students.

 

Effective Field 1 facilitation skills include but are not limited to…

 

1. strong group leadership and teamwork skills = commands respect. delegates effectively. works collaboratively with all team members to make decisions and share delivery of learning objectives. colleagues feel empowered. 

2. powerful engagement skills = students and co-facilitators are “hooked in” and feel ownership over topics and activities. 

3. establishes appropriate connections = consistently approachable. open to feedback. supportive. demonstrates humor & compassion. identifies own and others’ needs and is proactive in fulfilling them. develops meaningful rapports with a,b, and c. 

 

WITH REGARDS TO THE PROGRAM YOU HAVE JUST FINISHED FACILITATING, PLEASE COMMENT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU HAVE MASTERED THESE FIELD 1 FACILITATION SKILLS AND PROVIDE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE. 

 

 

Use the descriptions to evaluate your own performance and to take inventory of your own personal level of professional development within the specific context of the program you have just facilitated.   

 

2. FIELD 2 :: PHYSICAL… Facilitation skills in this area relate primarily to:

 

1. Technical guide certifications acquired (such as PADI, WFR, rock climbing, high ropes, etc). 

2. Excellent physical fitness. Established runner / yogi / swimmer, etc.

3. Groomed and equipped. Possesses all the personal gear he/she needs. is able to maintain personal hygiene and appropriate professional appearance whilst in tropical wilderness and/or challenging, unfamiliar environments. 

4. High levels of comfort in tropical wilderness environments. Solid camping / outdoor / back country survival and leadership skills. Established EE / outdoor facilitation skills. 

5. High level of personal health awareness. Knowledgeable about personal dietary needs. able to effectively manage energy levels during field work. 

6. Excellent risk management skills. Understands the physical needs and limitations of self and others. Understands the physical challenges present in an environment and is able to initiate effective strategies for mitigating risks. Exhibits consistent awareness of risks through appropriate communication, use of equipment and effective teamwork.

 

WITH REGARDS TO THE PROGRAM YOU HAVE JUST FINISHED FACILITATING, PLEASE COMMENT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU HAVE MASTERED THESE FIELD 2 FACILITATION SKILLS AND PROVIDE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE.

 

3. FIELD 3 :: MENTAL… Facilitation skills in this area relate primarily to:

 

1. Deep subject knowledge. Confidently answers technical questions with appropriate facts and information. Able to satisfy the appetite of even the most curious of young minds. Effectively engages with teachers regarding learning outcomes and technical subject matter. 

2. Extensive group dynamics/facilitation knowledge. Can confidently and effectively work with Oi team mates to deliver a broad range of activities for groups of varying size and age. 

3. Prepared & focused. Turns up ready. Knows what to say and how to say it. Consistently conscious of desired learning outcomes. Always has a few extra tricks up their sleeve! 

4. Energized and inspired. Sleeps well. Knows how to rest. Enjoys their subject areas and enthuses others with a love of learning. Established stress management practice. 

5. A life long learner. Humble. Appetite for exploring personal passions and weaknesses / areas where growth is needed. Willing to share needs and develop new strategies for personal growth.

 

WITH REGARDS TO THE PROGRAM YOU HAVE JUST FINISHED FACILITATING, PLEASE COMMENT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU HAVE MASTERED THESE FIELD 3 FACILITATION SKILLS AND PROVIDE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE.

 

4. FIELD 4 :: EMOTIONAL… Facilitation skills in this area relate primarily to:

 

1. High emotional awareness. Understands own personal challenges and has developed effective strategies for managing them. 

2. Efficient emotional processor. Effectively deals with emotional reactions to field-based situations. remains calm and present when challenged. Effective communicator of emotional reality and associated needs.

3. Highly empathic. Able to identify with the emotional realities of others. Creates safe spaces for sharing and processing. Consistently present for others. 

 

WITH REGARDS TO THE PROGRAM YOU HAVE JUST FINISHED FACILITATING, PLEASE COMMENT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU HAVE MASTERED THESE FIELD 4 FACILITATION SKILLS AND PROVIDE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE.

5. FIELD 5 :: SPIRITUAL… Facilitation skills in this area relate primarily to:

 

1. Strong & clear sense of purpose. Has clarity around personal mission in life and understands correlation to the Oi mission and vision. 

2. Nature lover. Experiences a deep feeling of “Connection” in wilderness environments. Has a natural fascination for the diversity of life (flora and fauna) on earth.

3. Anthropologist at heart. Deep curiosity about how people live and experience life. Natural enthusiasm to learn from others – even those from very different cultural origins. Willing and able to embrace the Odyssey culture. 

4. Deep appreciation of value of service. 

5. Extremely playful and creative. Demonstrates flexibility and can spontaneously contribute fun games. 

 

WITH REGARDS TO THE PROGRAM YOU HAVE JUST FINISHED FACILITATING, PLEASE COMMENT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU HAVE MASTERED THESE FIELD 5 FACILITATION SKILLS AND PROVIDE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE.

Black Swan dynamics

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Black Swan dynamics

 

Nassim Taleb’s book, “The Black Swan, The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” is an articulate expose of the innately random nature of certain influential events. Its a scary thought to think – that random events rule the world – especially as an entrepreneur, but in reading this I am reminded of the naivete (and even arrogance) of assuming authority and attempting control. Black Swans (random events that effect change) are a pervasive feature of life. The more we try to forecast and predict (and, according to Nassim, especially if we do it wearing a tie) the further we get from reality. Its why we shouldn’t watch TV – or at least not the “news” – and its why, as an entrepreneur, I find myself constantly reminded of the need to develop a compass by which to navigate the world – risk management strategy for the soul, so to speak.

 

Strategic plans are important, so long as they are flexible. Business plans are also important, so long as they are understood for what they are (just a plan), but to be honest, I haven’t looked at mine since I launched my company almost three years ago. It seems to me that building a foundational layer of clear values and healthy relationships is a far more essential part of compass development, which in turn can hopefully help us to manage Black Swans – and maybe even see them as opportunities. I feel like this is something Whinnie the Pooh might say, but it seems the general rule is this:

 

“you will never end up exactly where you thought you were going to end up having followed the precise route you envisioned”. 

 

Some might say that’s stating the obvious, but as an entrepreneur I frequently forget, only to be reminded later when I reach some point of frustration that I could have avoided (or at least didn’t need to experience with quite such intensity!). My compass is partly about people – close friends, mentors and colleagues – who form an essential layer of resilience and point of reference. Relationships are such a fascinating area to understand as a manager and company owner – especially when working in developing countries and regions beyond your country (and culture of origin). All great stuff to “unpack” in future reflections on entrepreneurship.

 

It seems to me that greater our ability to intelligently respond to new and shifting market trends and previously unpredicted events the greater our potential for sustainable growth. Considering how one does this catapults me into thoughts about holism, yoga, intuition and love, which are hardly the words on the tip of the tongue of most entrepreneurs – at least not when they’re in the office! I’m exploring all of this daily at the Odyssey Institute and look forward to sharing our mistakes, learning and current practices.

Beginning

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Sometimes its the hardest thing to do. To simply begin. Its a decision to initiate momentum; its a commitment to the unknown.

About three years ago I set off on a journey into entrepreneurship, not knowing what I would find or where I would end up.  This is my blog about that uncertain life, with all its perils and serendipity. This blog is my attempt to collate my insights and musings and share them, for better or worse, in the hope that they may inspire a weary traveler or two.

I am on the steepest learning curve of my life.  At times the “curve” feels more like a vertical line. I feel as if I’m passed the point of no return, or that I’ve made a commitment to a journey that is far from over. Mountaineering analogies spring to mind. However the one big difference between mountaineering and entrepreneurship is that starting your own business is the metaphorical equivalent of attempting to climb a mountain with no summit.