Experience Economy Expert…

… that’s what I am as of two weeks ago, as I became ‘certified’ through completion of a week-long class taught by the original experts, Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore,… co-authors of The Experience Economy and Authenticity, and co-founders of Strategic Horizons.  I learned a ton.  Methods and frameworks that can apply to my business, and all businesses for that matter.  The foundational model, upon which the course and their books are based, is called the progression of economic value (POEV).  This ladder of value starts with commodities at the bottom, then goods, above that services,… with experiences and transformations at the top.

This model depicts the long-term structural shifts in our economy which have occurred across history.  As you know life was much simpler at the start, with everyone primarily doing everything for themselves,… from raising animals, to growing food and chopping wood.  As trade emerged, we advanced into an agrarian economy where most workers were involved with extracting things from the earth,… commodities as diverse as food and coal.  The innovators of the time then developed machinery that could produce more output with less labor.  They also figured out the processes required to take commodities and make them into goods,… creating the next higher level of economic value (how you get paid), and the dawn of the industrial economy.

I’m not going to share the details of each stage of progression, as then you would have no reason to read the book.  I will say it has opened my eyes to the exciting potential for creating new economic value based on leveraging the changing desires/expectations of individuals/organizations.  The bottom line principle here is that as things become mechanized, standardized, commoditized, new forms of value will emerge.   And the cycle just repeats itself for each step of the POEV,… a goods company can design new value through services, a services company can design new value through experiences, and so on.  What’s valued next…?