So, if you’re working on a framework that depicts your unique view of a problem in your domain, you might be wondering:

“Is this view actually unique and helpful?”

Below are some tell-tale signs, but first, an example:

One of my early corporate jobs was as a strategy analyst at a cruise line. At the time, there was a boatload (pun intended) of fuel regulations being introduced around the world at a dizzying pace.

• E.g., you have to burn this type of fuel in European ports, this other type of fuel in Alaska, the rest of the US ports will follow suit in 2020 if approved by the EPA, etc.

After a bit of research, a few interviews with our compliance team, and some phone calls with our ship captains, I put together a single slide with a consolidated visual of the regulations and posted it on our internal team blog.

I didn’t think much more of it.

A few months later, I was at a trade conference, sitting in the back of a panel discussion on fuel regulations, and to my surprise, I see my slide pop up.

The gentleman representing our company on the panel had brought just that slide as his one visual aid.

I was immediately flattered—gratified as an analyst that I’d created something 'conference-worthy.'

Then, the true tell. I noticed people pulling out their phones and taking pictures of the slide.

I remember thinking, "Ok, I guess they haven't seen a view like this before."

To this day, I don’t think there was anything extraordinary about the information depicted — it was all public. And the slide wasn’t even all that pretty.

But the synthesis of it all into a digestible, shareable form was valuable enough for dozens of people in an audience to say, “I need a picture of that.”

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So, test your framework out with a peer, trusted client, or small audience.

Look out for the tell-tale signs that you’ve reached “good IP.”

And remember, it might not take too much internal searching and synthesis to get there.

💡

-Wes

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