Page 14 - Intangible value

According to this report, the new preconditions for success can be condensed into four principles, which help com- panies transform quite holistically and to create the most abundant value possible:
THE STARTING POINT FOR OPERATION IS AN ADVANCED ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE CHANGING WORLD:
Successful companies now boldly combine an- thropocentric future thinking, system thinking and design thinking and methods in order to nd opportunities for holistic innovation and value creation. That is how they manage to anticipate disruptive changes in their sector, de ne suf - ciently large and valuable problems for them- selves to solve as well as implement solutions which create genuinely valuable experiences.
INNOVATION BEGINS WITH THE BUSINESS MODEL:
What the most innovative companies have in com- mon is the ambitious effort to transform at the level of their entire business. Their aims is increas- ingly often to develop new value systems, service platforms, business areas or eco-systems, in other words not only products, services or brands cre- ated to meet customer needs. For example, when optimised for societal effectiveness, the digital platforms of ‘the sharing economy’ are seen as a transformative enabler of change. New business models help companies to create shared and com- mon value, and challenge the traditional operators ef ciently and revolutionise entire sectors.
There is no one truth about the new normal for business. However, it is evident that businesses and organisations are at an important turning point. The leap to the new wave of business is not a dif cult one but what it requires is courage to challenge the old truths and a will to nd a great new purpose for the company and its operations. In addition to this, what is needed is the ability to adopt the idea of digital platforms and the business models based on networks that are typical of the new wave. Then the goal is not only to sell products and services but to create preconditions for as many value experiences as possible.
A GREAT PURPOSE STEERS DEVELOPMENT:
Pioneering companies believe in the force of pur- pose to steer change on the level of the entire com- pany. Purpose helps anchor new operations and signi cances to something larger than the compa- ny, which can usually be located somewhere where big challenges around the company and the com- pany’s own super powers meet. Purpose crystal- lises the raison-d’être of the company and creates a starting point for suf ciently bold experiments as well as a meaningful reason for customers, em- ployees, partners and investors to participate with enthusiasm in the company’s operation.
DESIGN IS SEEN AS AN ENABLER OF VALUE EXPERIENCES:
In the end, practical development activity always takes place at the level of customer experience. The value of design is emphasised when the aim of business activity is to produce the most in- teresting and valuable experiences possible for people. The best companies have understood how value is created – or not created – from very prac- tical, meaningful details that have been joined to- gether seamlessly in products, services and brand stories. An anthropocentric and participatory de- sign in particular is a key competence area which helps companies create entities and meaningful worlds at contact points for customers nally to experience, consume, use and buy the company and the solutions it provides.
Here in Finland, we are already among the best in design, game industry and start-up culture, but perhaps our next goal could be to develop these competence areas into tools for something bigger than themselves. As Brian David Johnson, the futurist at Intel, stated in the interview conducted for the report, we can actually optimise sys- tems and companies for any purposes. Now we have to choose whether we want them to be successful by realis- ing our values, hopes and dreams or to wither when striv- ing for one-dimensional customer bene t and nancial pro t only.
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