This week I was invited to join a session by Patrick van der Pijl, producer of the book “Business Model Generation”. Big surprise, the session was about the innovation and generation of business models.
The session was – like the book itself – very interesting. Just like they used their ‘BM canvas’ to explore their own business model, they took the setup of the session serious as well. We started in the morning with setting the goals together, a brief summary of the theory of the book and some interesting real-life cases. Of course it wasn’t one-way traffic, but everything presented was accompanied by a lively discussion.
The afternoon existed of three different cases we brought with us from our daily business. Lots of post-its, clear rules, posters with useful tips, exchange of people between the different cases and presentations to the other groups made the afternoon worthwhile as well. Because design and visualization were an important part of the approach, I felt at home like a fish in the water.
And you shouldn’t consider their main tool, the canvas, as the absolute truth. It is however a damn good tool to assess your current business model and come up with refreshing thoughts on how to create more value in your value chain.
In short: I wish there were more sessions like this one.
The book has been around for a while now and if you haven’t read it yet, reviews can be found by the dozen, for example here or here. A 72 page free summary can be downloaded on the BMG website. If you want to buy it, you’ll have to wait for a while, because it’s sold out.
As the first official contributor to Klatergoud, RJ was present from the very start. He's down to earth, likes to put things in perspective and does not take himself too serious. Loves women, lost his heart to Africa and always has a bigger plan. He lives in Amsterdam, has a Master in Strategic Product Design from Delft and is co-founder of Strategic Design office Koos. Here he helps businesses with a strategic vision and direction for their innovation process.