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DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS72

translate technological developments in the external world into
opportunities. In other words, fact-finding should be as much about
seeking and shaping new opportunities as describing the context to
existing opportunities. Jeff Bezos represents a particularly spectacular
example of being inspired by one statistic – the internet’s 2,300 per cent
annual growth rate – to create Amazon.com, the iconic online retailer.

tools for seeking and shaping opportunities

In addition to the fact-finding sources identified above, a wide range of
predominantly divergent tools can help you seek and shape market
opportunities and so avoid the trap of considering your first idea as
your best and only idea. These are listed in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Tools for seeking and shaping opportunities

G The power of ‘Why?’
G The ‘5 Whys?’
G The ‘5 Ws plus H’
G Observing core users
G Lead users
G Seek inspiration from the unfamiliar
G Boundary examination
G Boundary-hopping

You will not need to use all of the techniques all of the time. You will
also find that some of the techniques overlap with each other. Between
them, though, they represent quite a formidable armoury and every
technique will be useful to you at some point.

There is no right and wrong way to approach this step of seeking and
shaping opportunities. You should have the confidence to use a variety
of the techniques to provoke as many different angles and as much
fresh and provocative thinking as you possibly can. This chapter
discusses each technique in turn, so that you can become familiar with
them and develop your skills in selecting techniques appropriate to the
task in hand.

Cast your mind back to the rules of convergent and divergent thinking
and to the active management of the different phases outlined in
Chapter 2. This opportunity-shaping step will involve switching
between divergent and convergent thinking. Some divergent thinking
may have suggested a previously unconsidered market segment. Some