Law 6: Because Conditions Are Constantly Changing - Follow the 3-P Law - Lorraine Marchand
A life sciences consultant, speaker, writer, and professor — Professor Marchand is an expert at showing entrepreneurs how to communicate the value of their innovations to investors. Professor Lorraine Marchand is bringing forth the key to innovation in her upcoming book ‘The Innovation Mindset’.
We are in an ongoing conversation with Lorraine to discuss her upcoming book The Innovation Mindset. Our monthly conversations with her will give readers a sneak-peak into what’s to come, and how to obtain an innovation mindset. During this conversation, Professor Marchand tells us about her sixth law of innovation.
Lorraine, after months of discussion surrounding your book, we have reached what I think sounds like the most interesting law. Tell us more about this sixth law.
“The sixth chapter of my book The Innovation Mindset examines how abiding innovators must be ready to pivot at any point in the process. I call this the 3-P Law. Conditions in every industry are dynamic — change is constant. Hence, every innovator must be willing to adapt.
“What do PayPal, Netflix, and Instagram all have in common? They all pivoted at key milestones in their development to become powerhouse innovations. While it may sound cliché to encourage you to strike “failure” from your vocabulary and replace it with “pivot,” the importance of the pivot — defined as a change in strategy without a change in vision — is vital. Said another way, it is a change in strategy to realign with vision. Your vision may be grand and non-negotiable, but you’ are not going to get anywhere if you can’t solve a customer’s problem. The way to solve the problem is to uncover challenges and small problems as they arise and then pivot to meet the challenges and make the necessary shifts in direction.
“In this chapter, we examine how and when to pivot — based on MVP findings, customer feedback, and external constraints. I share a methodology I developed to guide the pivot process, one that ensures you learn along the way and set yourself up for future success. We also discuss stories of famous pivots and examine when companies failed to pivot and why — we look at the results of both.”
Such an important lesson, thank you, Lorraine.
