Try the Exercise 'Only We Can ....'

Here is a simple exercise which I would recommend as a source of innovation thinking. Gather some of your people together and write the following phrase at the top of a flipchart, 'Only we can.........' Each member of the group then has to complete the sentence. They might describe anything from a product, a service, a feature, a market segment, a geographic area, a personality, a patent etc. But it must be something that only your organisation can do or offer.

If nobody can think of anything that fits then you are in trouble. It means that you are not aware of anything that significantly differentiates you from other similar organisations. That would then lead to the questions, 'What can we do about this? How can we offer something unique?'

Most likely you can think of a short list of different things that only you can do. You should focus on these and ask these sorts of questions;

• How can we use this to clearly differentiate ourselves in the marketplace?
• Do our customers know about this?
• Are we emphasising this differentiator in our sales, marketing and positioning?
• How can we build on this to move further away from competitors?
• Are we charging enough for this? Can we use it as a way to increase margins?
• Who really needs this and do they know we offer it?
• How can we add more things that 'Only we can......'?

We are all trying to move away from the cut-throat competition of commodity products and services. The 'Only we can...' exercise helps you to focus on how to do that. Why not try it at your next management meeting?

Paul Sloane is the author of How to be a Brilliant Thinker. He writes and speaks on innovation and lateral thinking.

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