Value co-creation

Value co-creation is hot these days. It's the idea that companies should "partner" with customers to "co-create" value. All the juicy details can be found in the book The Future of Competition, by C.K. Prahalad.

If you're not running a business but are working as an employee or careerist, you might still benefit from this powerful concept. In fact, Napoleon Hill, author of the best-selling book Think and Grow Rich, wrote about a similar concept, except that he called it Mastermind Groups.

A MG is a group of people that you commit to meeting on a regular basis in order to exchange ideas, empower one another, and update each other on progress.

Value co-creation is basically a manifestation of the adage "two heads are better than one."

In fact, the more heads, the better!

At Talentelle, where I'm working as CEO (chief empowerment officer), we recently began to organize PIE sessions (for Partner Information & Empowerment). During these lively, interactive sessions, we explain to business people how Talentelle operates, what our business model is (yes, yes, we show all our secret recipes!), and how they, as free agents or entrepreneurs, can benefit by joining our community.

I believe this is the way business will be conducted in the future: get to know the needs, priorities and concerns of your collaborators or potential partners, and seek first to be of service to them.

You'd be surprised how many people go into business by uniquely focusing on their own needs (making money). This formula rarely works.

The word "BUSINESS", in fact, reveals a powerful clue that should be kept in mind by first-time entrepreneurs. Notice that the letter "U" precedes the letter "I."

As a business person, I should always keep in mind, when I face a client: "U are served before I am served."