Rapid Idea Improvement

Rapid Idea Improvement

By Bart VanderhaegenBusiness
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Rapid Idea Improvement episodes

  • Episode 155: How to let ideas "compete" ?

    3 concrete tips:

    1. Express ideas as explanations

      1. Say how an action will transform a situation or capability, and why that action

      2. NOT : subjective opinion about importance (loose actions / goals)

      3. Avoid positive arguments

        1. Arguments appeal to authority

        2. Encourage alternative ideas

          1. What other actions could lead to the same goal

          2. What other better goals can be achieved via these actions ?


            3. 8 min
          5. Episode 152: We need to make sales more fun again ! (but we’re doing the opposite)

            Sales is not easy, and all things not easy can be made fun. More on that later

            What is not fun about sales now

            1. Inherently disappointing : getting so many no’s for 1 yes’

            2. We make it dull or frustrating in two ways

              1. by the typical KPI management 

                1. Discussions about numbers

                2. By throwing vague ideas around

                  1. Customer is key / our products have value

                  2. Can say that about everything at all times, it does not solve any problem

                  3. By justifying “the right way” all the time

                    1. “You should just sell like this and the business will grow”

                    2. If it doesn’t work, it is frustrating to having to repeat that all the time

                    3. It does not allow for alternative trials/ suggestions

                    4. What do we do to compensate, but what does not make it more fun

                      1. Coaching

                        1. Often analysis of who you are and what you should do to improve

                        2. At the level of your personhood, not ideas to can help you sell more

                        3. Also quite generic, simple tests, simple ideas (be more self conscious, we are all in this together)

                        4. What can actually make sales more fun ?

                          1. Approach it as a problem solving exercise

                            1. The problem of what to do or say so that the subjective valuation of your product by the customer goes up

                            2. You need a theory

                              1. About the valuation 

                              2. About what to say or do

                              3. You need to improve your theory

                                1. Find better ways to convey

                                2. You can do that together with other sales people

                                  1. Not as just sharing opinions

                                  2. But really testing the theory “what is we did A instead of B, what would happen, and why ?”

                                  3. Creativity ! new ideas / improved theories !

                                  4. The role of data: to point to an issue / not something you derive conclusions about

                                  5. All actions are a test of your theory. They provide useful information to change it or improve it. Don’t just celebrate succes, but more importantly learn from mistakes !

                                  6. There is an objectively best theory about what to do to persuade a customer, it’s fun trying to seek it out, by throwing out ideas that don’t work and replacing them with ideas that might work


                                    7. 18 min
                                  7. Episode 151: How does knowledge grow ?

                                    Ideas/ knowledge can only change in 3 ways:

                                    • Preventing them from changing: you secure them from changing by justifying their truth, by adding arguments to them that say why they are true, e.g. appeal to authority arguments.
                                    • Subjectively adding parts to them (without critically investigating) that you feel are missing / or throwing out parts that you feel are not needed
                                    • Actually improving them: you find flaws in them and try to correct them

                                      • 25 min

                                    About Rapid Idea Improvement

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                                    A podcast about the theory of knowledge applied to all fields that interest me (management, economics, physics, ...). My attempt at understanding & applying the ideas of Karl Popper (and his…