A working, effective Business Model is probably one of the ultimate creative endeavors. It is often the result of a long-winded development effort, including many trials and errors. It reflects a relationship between a number of stakeholders with the aim of creating value to most of them. It can be shown and described like a piece of art. And it is a practical, real-life invention.
The interesting observation here is that as a creative endeavor, the most successful, disrupting business models are those that go beyond the conventional, that reflect ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking. Thus those that develop those business models need to be somewhat unconventional and able to see beyond the obvious practice.
It also requires the business model generation process to be highly creative, without bounds, and highly iterative as well. Specific brainstorming situations need to be created accompanied by data retrieval or generation. It can sometimes take years to come up with a workable business model, and many trials and iterations.
And when it works, what a marvelous creation! And what really makes it an ultimate creation, for me, is how it creates value for a large number of stakeholders, not to mention that fact that it creates strong links and experiences for the same many people!
A business plan is one of the most powerful contemporary works of art.
Note – the figure is from the highly recommended book Business Model Generation – A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers.
