Business Model Innovation 2011 with Alexander Osterwalder

“The right business model can be the difference between success and failure for exactly the same technology or product.”– Alexander Osterwalder, author of the best seller Business Model Generation.

An eerie silence followed the statement that Alexander posited. Did he just expose the underlying truth of all businesses? Or was it another new age rant made by a self-­proclaimed business messiah. Whichever it was, Alexander definitely got hold of the audiences that morning.

And in any case, he converted me into a believer.

The Alexander Osterwalder Day Seminar 2011 was organized by Information Resource Management (IRM) – a company that prided itself in its continuous method development and long-­‐standing customer relations. They graciously allowed a team from Innovation Pioneers International (IPI) to not only participate in the program, but also to document the event and engage with the participants on innovation. In particularly, business innovation.

That 15th of December, I was made many folds wiser. Apart from bringing home the names cards of a number of similar-­‐minded individuals, more importantly, I brought back with me an invaluable lesson. One that I’ve resolved to incorporate in all my dealing from that very point onwards – do not try to find the best solution. Prototype. Experiment. Learn from your successes and failures. And use that to create better prototypes and experiments.

I have to say that the seminar conducted by Alexander Osterwalder was one of the more interesting and value-­‐adding workshops that I’ve ever been to. I say this from the point-­of­‐view of a person who has read, cover to cover, the Business Model Generation and studied its process in great detail while completing a short stint at the university.

It was interesting to know that what started out as a mere academic paper for Alexander turned out to become a sort of Holy Grail for numerous companies. The Business Model Canvas, which was in his own words, a way of “addressing the topic more systematically” has been a touted as a litmus paper test for the commercialization of businesses.

I’m very sure that I can speak for everyone when I say that we really enjoyed the way Alexander complimented his points with up‐to­‐date real life examples. These examples included: Google, Xerox, Nespresso, PlayStation2, Wii, EasyJet and SunEdison. Each of the examples portrayed a starkly different way of using, revising and revamping the business model canvas. However they all drove home the same point. One that was also the central theme of the seminar – “without small failure, innovation cannot be achieved.” It was obvious that Alexander was trying to imbue in us the culture of experimentation and execution, a culture that threatens extinction in today’s failure fearful, everything­‐perfect society.

The buffet-­for-­thought with many dessert­‐truths that Alexander left with the participants that afternoon was evidently fueling their newfound insatiable curiosity. I found myself together with my team lingering at the back waiting until Alexander was free before breaking into a run towards him. We had to have a photo with perhaps one of the most influential business innovation authors in the world!

Article by Errol Lim