I understand that 30
[2024-05-10 10:01:31 AM] : I understand that 30x500 stresses to find pain first, then solve it second. But isn't a big part of this process identifying or knowing what one is good at solving? Say I know what I'm good at and what I enjoy doing. Can you give a bit of guidance as to how that knowledge should (or should not?) affect the painstorming process?
1 Reply
[2024-05-10 11:00:41 AM] : I would say that knowing what you are good at is at the center of your safari. You would not want to build an audience that has pains you cannot solve for them.
You want to find the sweet spot between the things you are good at, the things the world needs, and the things the world would pay you for. Bonus points if the things you are good at are also the things you love to do.
[2024-05-10 11:09:35 AM] : OK makes sense, thanks Christoph!
[2024-05-10 11:26:14 AM] : Knowing what you’re good at comes up again later when you’re working out how to solve the pain.
[2024-05-10 11:35:41 AM] : True! Thanks Peter
[2024-05-10 11:40:17 AM] : Great advice here. I think the underlying thing with the course advice here is to park yourself and your own opinions for a bit. Objectively what can you discover that others are struggling with - even if you can't or don't feel you can solve that right now. The challenge is to discover what others have pain with via the Safari process. That is why the examples are on decorating and stuff. The issue here is that we already think we can do this - and honestly its a subtle difference. One thing for later perhaps is to imagine you don't get to decide what you make. Your boss is their and they won't let you make anything unless you can evidence the pains from your research in the wild. Hope that helps! :slightly_smiling_face:
[2024-05-10 12:31:53 PM] : Great advice, thanks Samir!
[2024-05-10 01:58:05 PM] : excellent stuff in here from everyone so far!
[2024-05-11 01:27:23 AM] : It also helps to differentiate between your skills and the actual problem. For example, a software engineer learns (ideally) to create "any software." When he looks for a job he does not always know which product he will help build, but that his skills will still matter.
I'd say that broad skills like that can solve infinite potential problems. But which ones to actually solve is where Safari can help.
It's like being a doctor. You're skilled and knowledgable in a lot of things. But you still gotta ask the patient what his symptoms are before you solve his specific problems.
[2024-05-12 12:45:52 PM] : OK, got it, thanks Raahul!
[2024-05-13 10:11:34 AM] : Also don't be afraid of learning a couple of extra skills if they allow you to help your audience more effectively.
A good example of that is writing e-bombs: it's a very valuable skill to learn, even if you don't consider yourself a "writer".