Beyond Platformization — Navigating key ecosystem decisions and their impact on success
This is the second guest post written on Stories of Platform Design by members of our community, exploring ideas emerging from the Boundaryless ecosystem. Here, David Kish gives a preview of a new tool developed together with Danielle Stanko, another community member and certified PDT facilitator. The Preliminary Intent Navigator provides a frame for having a structured conversation before embarking on platform strategy design, to set collective intent for the design process.
They will be prototyping this tool during our upcoming sense-making event on 23 July. And you’re invited! Sign up to the event to get the pre-booking details: platformdesigntoolkit.com/event-july23
This guest posts is also part of our new “B Sides” project, launched as an experiment for our upcoming 2020 Whitepaper. B Sides gathers contributions from our community in order to explore ideas emerging within and at the edges of the Boundaryless ecosystem. The concept? Think of B Sides as a metaphor for the backside of a vinyl record where all the good, unexploited stuff is hidden. We also see this as part of a path to become more open and providing spaces for collective sense-making. If you want to know more and provide with with further ideas on how to develop the B Sides project, go here: https://platformdesigntoolkit.com/B-Sides-ideas-survey.
Enjoy reading!
Premise
When we previously wrote — on my blog The Next Evolution — about how Spiral Dynamics (SD) can influence the future of platform and ecosystem design, we shared our thoughts on how SD could augment platform design toolkit (PDT) by helping platform architects go beyond platformization to expand the context of a problem statement and raise awareness of the complex socio-economic relationships of ecosystems. We shared a concept for a Collective Intent Tool that could be used during the Exploration phase of PDT, as well as how SD could augment each of the steps of the PDT’s Strategy Design Phase.
In this post, we’d like to share more about the Collective Intent Tool, now renamed Preliminary Intent Navigator, as we iterate it in preparation for an interactive prototyping session with the PDT community during their July 23 Sense-Making event.
We envision the Preliminary Intent Navigator helping platform and ecosystem shapers/architects to share their initial thoughts with each other and determine the degree of alignment around key areas of intent, zooming in and out on value chain ideas, long tail opportunities, business model considerations and the overall purpose/impact of the ecosystem.
The following is a brief overview to give your a teaser for the session and of the tool. We’ve used a thought experiment around how we (the authors)— as part of the community — perceive Boundaryless in this context.
Vision Canvas
Before jumping into the Navigator, we’ve found it best to have participants share their initial thoughts on what they want to accomplish with the platform and ecosystem. To do this, we do a silent brainstorm, having participants write down and share their thoughts. We cluster them into common themes as follows.
Preliminary Intent Navigator
Having clustered everyone’s thoughts, we move to the navigator with these objectives in mind.
- Broaden perspectives beyond value chain platformization
- Enable Platform and Ecosystem Shapers/Architects to contribute to the organic unfolding of ecosystems
- Raise awareness of how ecosystems can support the broadest existential challenges humans face
- Discuss key attributes that affect how ecosystems can be nurtured, governed and share value
Each quadrant in the tool represents a particular mindset and Spiral Dynamics vMeme with the intent of exploring multiple perspectives.
Zoom In: Platformization Quadrant
SD Mindset — Orange/Prosperity Mindset — Strategic, Entrepreneurial, Action Orientation.
Purpose — Determine whether there are viable platform ecosystem opportunities.
Objective — Identify and explore platformization opportunities (platform plays) within existing value chains.
Synopsis — This quadrant is about applying platform and ecosystem thinking to transform existing value chains, removing inefficiencies and friction to enable more convenient and cost-effective value exchanges. Participants categorize ideas and related value chains into organizing around a product or empowering an existing ecosystem.
Zoom Out: Broader Ecosystem Quadrant
SD Mindset — Green/Community — Empathetic, Environmental, Compassionate, Openness.
Purpose — Begin thinking in a “we mindset” by exploring how interest-based communities or market niches would participate in the ecosystem
Objective — Envision long tail opportunities across private, public and social sectors.
Synopsis — This quadrant is about the long tail portion of the market and how platforms and ecosystems can empower prosumers to connect with each other in unforeseen ways that are not directed/controlled by the platform. Long tail use case are identified across private, public and social sectors.
Zoom In: Model Considerations Quadrant
SD Mindset — Yellow Interdependence Mindset — Learning, Systems Thinking, Curious, Non-judgemental.
Purpose — To identify team’s thoughts on the role of the platform architect in directing the platform/ecosystem or guiding the organic unfolding of it.
Objective — Introduce team to key design attributes that determine how an ecosystem emerges, is governed and shares value.
Synopsis — This quadrant is about exploring different approaches to key elements that underpin the ecosystem, such as membership access, innovation, data ownership, governance and monetization/value distribution. Participant discuss their initial perspectives on a spectrum of choices they have for each key element.
Zoom Out: Purpose Quadrant
SD Mindset — Turquoise Harmony Mindset — Holistic, Collective Action, Regenerative.
Purpose — To identify the primary purpose that underpins the ecosystem and motivates people to participate.
Objective — Explore connections between the ecosystem and societal issues/emerging values as a means to attract participation and contribute to society.
Synopsis — This quadrant is about identifying a unifying purpose that serves as an attractor for the ecosystem and underpins its ability to persist and sustain itself. Above and beyond efficient value exchanges, this quadrant seeks out intrinsic motivators that will draw people to the ecosystem. Participants discuss how the ecosystem can address societal challenges, emerging values and ultimately identify potential transformative purposes.
Join Us As We Iterate!
We have prototyped this tool on several use cases and look forward to iterating it further with the PDT community during their July 23 PDT Sense-Making Event. It’s open to anyone. So, we would love to see you on the 23rd. Come join us!
David Kish and Danielle Stanko
Originally published at https://www.thenextevolution.com on July 9, 2020.
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