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The Better Business Analysis 
Institute presence, the Better 

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Business Analysis podcast with 
Benjamin Walsh. 

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Hi everybody and welcome back to
the Better Business Analysis 

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podcast with your host, Benjamin
Walsh. 

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This week we continue on our BA 
Byte series because you like 

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them. 
We're, we are breaking down 

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important concepts for business 
analysts, product managers, 

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project managers and all your 
project professionals out there 

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in short actionable bites. 
Today we are diving specifically

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into an area that I was pointed 
to a few weeks ago by a friend 

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who's actually a product manager
and that topic is called radical

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product thinking. 
And what is that? 

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That's a structured way to set a
bold, purposeful vision for your

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product. 
So specifically, we're going to 

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be talking about vision setting,
and that's what the course was 

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about. 
But this actually forms a 

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larger, larger kind of framework
for thinking about building 

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products and the general sense 
of products. 

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So instead of focusing on 
incremental product improvements

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or letting the market feedback 
steer you off course, this 

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approach helps you craft a 
vision that shapes your product 

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and ensures that you are solving
meaningful problems for people 

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that actually want to use your 
product. 

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We'll be using the radical 
vision template. 

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OK, it's a worksheet to walk 
through the steps that you need 

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to set a clear vision for your 
product. 

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And I've already applied this to
our huge program of work. 

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So this is when you think about 
product, it doesn't necessarily 

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need to be a, you know, a 
product or an intangible 

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service. 
It could just simply be a vision

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for your program. 
So by the end of this podcast 

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today, you'll know how to create
a vision, a radical product 

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vision or just a radical vision 
that can align your entire team 

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around a long term impactful 
strategy. 

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So let's jump right in to 
radical vision template and 

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break it down step by step. 
And this template, you can do 

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the course. 
I'm, you know, I'm not promoting

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it. 
I don't get any monetary value. 

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I just think it's a, a great 
learning that I've add to, I've 

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added to my BA toolkit here. 
And I think you can, if you're 

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ABA or, or you're a project 
manager or a product manager, 

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add this to your toolkit. 
It's a really good way of 

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setting vision. 
So imagine this as a PowerPoint 

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presentation, a Word template 
that you're breaking down, and 

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we're going to go step by step 
through the sections, OK? 

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You start your vision statement 
with a simple sentence and it 

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starts with today when and then 
you outline the customer segment

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that you're talking about. 
And when I say customer segment,

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I'm talking about the specific 
customer that you are focusing 

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on. 
OK, when you start off, you 

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might not be that great at this,
but this is really specific. 

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You're talking about, I don't 
know, mothers of newborn babies 

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in America, for example, could 
be that you need to be really 

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specific. 
So the first step is to identify

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your your customer segment, 
which goes into today when 

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customer segment and that's who 
your products going to be for. 

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Think about the specific group 
of people who are facing a 

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challenge that your product 
might help solve. 

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It is essential to be clear 
here, as I said, OK, So I'll 

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give you an example here today 
when remote workers in 

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Wellington, New Zealand, OK, So 
that's specifically talking 

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about a location and the area 
demographic. 

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And it's not just workers, it's 
talking about remote workers. 

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So in that case, when you're 
talking about remote workers, 

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your product will be aimed at 
remote workers who are juggling 

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most multiple responsibilities, 
trying to stay productive while 

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also managing their personal 
lives at home because they're at

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home. 
Be specific, don't just say all 

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workers, OK? 
Think about a specific 

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demographic. 
So that's Step 1. 

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Today when customer segment Step
2, you can write this on a 

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separate line and you know, you 
can follow this through and stop

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the podcast rewind and you can 
draw this down. 

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And by the end of this, it would
be great to have one example 

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that you could use. 
So the next insertion point 

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here, Step 2 is want to 
desirable activity or outcome. 

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So today we're in customer 
segment first line want to they 

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want to achieve something. 
What is the target audience that

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you're talking about? 
What do they want to achieve? 

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What is the desirable outcome 
from their perspective? 

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It's not about you. 
It's not about when my company 

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wants to make money from product
or when I want to serve it is 

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what do they want to do? 
Don't give full down. 

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It's not it's, it's about them 
at this point, OK? 

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It's not about using your 
product. 

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It's about what goals or tasks 
they're trying to achieve. 

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You're not talking about your 
product right now. 

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So in that example, remote 
workers in Wellington want to 

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maintain a healthy work life 
balance and stay productive. 

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So that's what they want to 
achieve. 

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What is their goal? 
Do you get it? 

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Focus on the aspirations. 
This isn't about what they do. 

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This is why they do it OK Remote
workers don't just want to be 

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productive. 
They want to feel accomplished 

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without sacrificing personal 
time. 

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You can be as long as you like 
here. 

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This is not like a normal slogan
for a company. 

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So that's Step 2 want to 
desirable outcome step three. 

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Now on your third sentence, they
have to current situation. 

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OK. 
So today when customer segment 

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want to achieve this goal 
outcome, they have to current 

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solutions, what do they 
currently have to do? 

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We're looking at how do they 
reach the goal today, OK, there 

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is a really rare occasion where 
you will find that there are no 

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alternatives. 
I do not believe it. 

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People achieve goals today. 
Do not fall into assault, false 

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sense of security. 
If you're an entrepreneur that 

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you've found a huge gap that no 
one has ever satisfied this 

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market, that means you're 
thinking too much about your 

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product. 
What is it that people do to 

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achieve a healthy worth like 
work life balance today? 

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Someone is achieving that today 
and won't be through technology 

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necessarily. 
OK, So what are they? 

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What existing solutions in the 
general sense, not just 

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technology, are they relying on 
and why aren't they enough? 

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So let's come to our remote 
workers example. 

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Today, when remote workers in 
Wellington, New Zealand want to 

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maintain a healthy work life 
balance and stay productive, 

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they have to use genetic 
generic, sorry, genetic generic 

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time tracking tools and personal
reminders, which are not 

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tailored for remote worker 
remote work challenges. 

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These tools, for example, help 
manage tasks, but they don't 

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provide a comprehensive solution
to the work life balance 

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problem, which is often, you 
know, the root of these people's

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problem. 
So the key tip here is that 

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you're, you're digging deep into
the workarounds. 

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That's a compromises even that 
users are making. 

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So that's step three. 
They have to what are the 

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current solutions and and 
workarounds and manual what are 

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they doing? 
And Step 4. 

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This is unacceptable. 
Unacceptable because and then 

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you list the shortcomings of the
most popular current solutions. 

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OK, this is unacceptable because
shortcoming of current solutions

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and I'll give you an example. 
Go straight into our remote 

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workers. 
This is unacceptable because 

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these tools do not offer 
personal guidance for balancing 

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productivity and well-being 
leading to burnout. 

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OK, this is really important 
here. 

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This brings us to like the most 
critical path, part and path of 

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the vision setting statement. 
Is the current situation 

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unacceptable? 
That and unacceptable is a is is

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a strong word, what with 
existing solutions. 

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This is where you explain why 
something needs to change. 

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So in this example, burnout is a
huge issue for remote workers 

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because they like the tools that
help them both manage personal 

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and work time effectively and 
relationships. 

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So the key tip here is this 
should be passionate. 

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This should be about passion. 
This is your opportunity to say 

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what's unacceptable pain points 
in the language we use 

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sometimes, OK. 
And this of course is where your

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opportunity is for your product 
or your solution to address 

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these needs. 
But it has to be unacceptable 

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for that user. 
You have to have known that that

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customer segment, for example, 
finds this unacceptable or and 

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they're compromising. 
Unacceptable is a big challenge.

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And if you don't, if you don't 
have good reasons why this pain 

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point, this area or these 
current solutions aren't 

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unacceptable. 
Not just not great or have bad 

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UI, that's not good enough. 
Unacceptable is a threshold. 

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And if you don't meet that 
threshold, you won't get any 

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customers because unacceptable 
means that there is such a gap 

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that people are willing to pay 
for it. 

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So just think about that in the 
back of your head #5 OK. 

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And #5 after we've explained 
that this is unacceptable 

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because of these shortcomings #5
is we envision a world where 

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shortcomings are resolved. 
OK, so you're now explaining the

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world after those shortcomings, 
the unacceptable behavioural 

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situation, have been resolved. 
You're not talking about product

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features here, you're leading 
into it, but you're talking 

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about it from the perspective of
the customer segment. 

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So whether our remote workers, 
let's jump into, we envision a 

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world where remote workers and 
Wellington, New Zealand can 

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seamlessly switch between work 
and personal life without 

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feeling overburdened using tools
that support both productivity 

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and well-being. 
Now that's important because 

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you're talking about tools, 
You're not talking about 

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features here. 
You're not saying we envision a 

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world where there's one website 
where you go to that does this, 

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that and the other. 
This is generic and it's talking

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about the shortcomings. 
It's not talking about your 

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technology at this point. 
So the key tip here is painting 

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a picture of the ideal world. 
If your product succeeds, what 

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change would make for your 
users? 

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So it's one step removed from 
your actual product. 

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It's more the the purpose of 
your product's existence. 

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The key tip is dream big. 
Dream big. 

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This is a vision, and it should 
be inspiring to your team and 

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users and to your customers. 
It's a vision for your customers

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too. 
This vision statement, as we'll 

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get to the end of it very soon, 
is for you internally and for 

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your customers, OK? 
And for your marketing teams to 

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make it punchy in terms of 
slogans and whatnot, OK? 

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So don't limit yourself on this 
point #5 we envision a world 

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where don't limit yourself to 
incremental improvement. 

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Think transformative change. 
You only introduce a new 

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capability slash product service
if you are aiming at transfer 

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transformational time. 
No amount of agility or 

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continuous improvements going to
get you there. 

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Number six, the final bit, we're
bringing about this world 

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through and then your broad 
technology approach or approach 

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doesn't necessarily be a 
technology solution. 

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It could be a business case, it 
could be a policy change, for 

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example, it could be a business 
process. 

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It could be a forming of 
organization. 

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And in some cases, of course, 
it's an IT product. 

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So this bit is finally where we 
outline how we are going to 

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bring this vision to life. 
This is not still not about 

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listing product features, OK, 
We're not. 

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This is not what this is about. 
This is higher level. 

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This is about your approach or 
your technology that will solve 

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the problem and create this new 
world. 

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So we bring back to our remote 
worker examples, we could say 

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we're bringing about this world 
through AI driven Productivity 

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Tools that schedule well-being 
breaks and provide personalized 

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work life balance 
recommendations, OK? 

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So what we're really saying is 
our approach leverages AI to 

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help remote workers manage their
time in a healthy, sustainable 

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way, focusing on productivity 
and well-being simultaneously. 

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So those were defined too. 
The key tip here is about the 

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broad approach, OK, the 
philosophy that guides your 

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product, it's the, it's the 
principles, it's needs to be 

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wrapped around what you've 
already put in your statement. 

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So step six that we've just 
covered is we're bringing this 

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world about through. 
I think I might have got there 

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backwards last time, but it's 
step 6, we're bringing this 

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world about through. 
And then your broad approach, 

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you know your principal, your 
broad Technology Strategy. 

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So that's it. 
There are 6 parts to that. 

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I'm going to remind you what 
they were today. 

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When customer segment want to 
complete an outcome, a finish, 

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you know, complete a goal, they 
have to current situation. 

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This is unacceptable because of 
the shortcomings of these 

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current situations and 
solutions. 

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We envision a world where these 
shortcomings are resolved. 

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We're bringing this world about 
through broad technology 

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approach. 
So you can listen to this again 

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and you can write those down. 
OK, and I'll post those onto the

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Spotify description so you can 
copy them. 

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You can put them in a template 
and you can fold them through. 

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I encourage you to do the 
Radical Product Thinking course.

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That's a free one, the vision 
setting one, and there are 

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others. 
And you can get certified in 

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this whole area and try it out 
on your next project. 

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I hope you enjoyed and you 
learned something this week and 

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I'll see you next week.