by Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Leadership Solutions, Inc.®

“This mystery opera had its premiere in Paris in 1863. It had an initial, partial performance at New York’s Met in1896. It had three performances at the Met in 1916-17. Then it disappeared until its new Met premiere on New Year’s Eve 2015.” From Met’s playbill for ‘Les Pêcheurs de Perles’ (The Pearl Fishers) by Georges Bizet.

An opera like this relates so well to an extraordinary number of enterprises: where they have developed something good, but that good thing has become buried by bigger and more adroit ventures. For long enough IBM was viewed as a powerhouse, although its computer products were always viewed by experts as mediocre. And so it buried countless, more effective, competitive products. ‘The Pearl Fishers’ is not a mediocre opera. It’s exceptional, but it got buried for nearly a hundred years.

Audiences were left gasping at the Met in late 2015 and into the 2016 season with ‘The Pearl Fishers.’ It was a gorgeous opera performance – powerful voices, gripping drama and beautiful music. Leila’s picture is what you’re looking at -from the playbill – the ravishing priestess of Bramha. What was so significant about this performance?

Bizet, the composer, died tragically and young in 1875, not even 40. His most famous opera ‘Carmen’ was not performed until after his death and then sputtered on and off until it became one of the greatest operas of all time. His ‘Pearl Fishers’ is at least as good, but has become buried by so many other opera productions and great opera composers, like Verdi, who lived much longer and was a great promoter of his own music.

    Is your product or service not getting the billing it deserves? Maybe your enterprise has not been around long enough, as happened when Bizet passed away, or maybe you haven’t been able to catch the market’s attention enough – unlike Microsoft, Google, Uber or AirnB.

Maybe your product or service is before its time, or maybe you haven’t fully nailed its value proposition? Apple seems to have hit both right, judging by its whopping iPad and iPhone successes…for now, at least. Even successful companies like Apple that get out in front of their marketplace eventually lose it; because they are too busy enjoying today as opposed to constantly pushing the envelope for tomorrow.

Where’s your starting point, as a leader, to prevent your remarkable service or product from becoming buried? It starts with your venture’s value proposition. This requires genius or a heck a lot of thought to figure out. Remember, as a famous 18th century English philosopher pointed out, “There’s no expedient that man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.”

There are a variety of ways to try and unearth your organization’s value proposition; from your customers’ point of view, not yours. Customers normally use the lens of cheapest, easiest, quickest and simplest. One approach this writer has found particularly helpful to catch a client’s eye, is the use of the acronym RICE: but then switch the C &E to RIEC. The outcome comports to: R= reduce; I= increase; E= eliminate; and C= create.

    Again, these have to be totally viewed from your customer, client or beneficiary’s point of view. So, taking the RICE or RIEC combination in turn:

»R=reduce – What does your enterprise, product or service reduce for your customers? Does it reduce their time investment and effort? Does it make their lives simpler? Does it take a chunk out of their struggle to be ahead of their competitors?

»I=increase – Where does your product or service increase value for your customers? Does it increase the value of their own product or service? Does it increase the opportunities or exposure that might come their way? Does it increase the surprise value to their customers?

»E=eliminate – How does your venture, service or product eliminate important factors for your customers or beneficiaries? Does it eliminate the need for a particular core competence because you can provide it instead? Does it eliminate the need to invest in a whole new market because you already have the market locked-up? Does it eliminate the requirement to take on extra staff because your enterprise, product or service meets the need?

»C=create – When can your enterprise, product or service create value for your clients or customers? Does your venture’s capabilities create new doors that your beneficiaries haven’t considered before? Do your offerings create the opportunity for your clients to grab new opportunities? Do your products or services create the possibility for your customers to build a fresh tidal wave that will take their markets by storm?

Is it possible that Bizet didn’t have the life-time or the know-how to really shape the value proposition for his recently re-introduced opera, so it got buried? Unless you’re incredibly lucky or a market genius, your value proposition isn’t just going to fall-out-of-the-sky. Besides, genius is generally regarded as 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

And, even if you take the recommended RICE/RIEC approach, don’t expect your sizzling value proposition to exactly fall into your lap – without a whole lot of luck. Once you have developed your first listings of RIEC, you should try and work with them for a while until you find them “wanting” in some way. Now do the listings again, without referring to your first shot too much.

Of course, it will be even better if you do it as a team effort rather than secretly on your own. More minds create more points of view, although the optimum size of an initiative team is around 6 or 7. It will be this team that proceeds with the second iteration of RICE/RIEC. Once complete, try and develop a value proposition statement, such as:

“To help people live longer, healthier lives through better food choices.”

This is the purpose-value of the Whole Foods chain. You appreciate that it’s simple but razor sharp. Its clarity came from a lot of thought.

When you have taken your RICE/RIEC through as many as four or five iterations over a six month period, maybe your value proposition will be ready for “big time.” Even so, it’s essential that you properly prepare everything that has to go with your launch –  are your people fully on-board, appropriate materials ready to go, product or service packaging in high gear, your organization attuned to any associated campaign, and so on?

And so, before your year is too far gone, put together that team of 6-7…or less, and take your best shot at four or five iterations. Do everything you can to prime these participants for their “think sessions.”

   Once you come up with that first iteration, work with it for a while before pursuing additional rounds. Hopefully, this way, you won’t have your product or service buried for the next 100 years – ala Georges Bizet. You might even find take-off like Microsoft, Google, Staples or Whole Foods!

  Beyond that, don’t sit back and admire your work for all-time. You will need to revisit your value-proposition at least annually, and maybe more frequently in dynamic, competitive markets: otherwise, some other upstart may come along and eat your lunch! The Chinese are doing that already in many markets.  

To learn more about RICE/RIEC, talk with: