The Law of the Legitimate Opposite
Geoffrey Moore
Author, speaker, advisor, best known for Crossing the Chasm, Zone to Win and The Infinite Staircase. Board Member of nLight, WorkFusion, and Phaidra. Chairman Emeritus Chasm Group & Chasm Institute.
One of the banes of business communication is what one might call “fake wisdom.”?These are recommended actions that are perfectly sound but also painfully obvious, as in:
or
Now, there could be very real issues lurking behind both of these statements, but until they are brought to the forefront, readers are just chewing in pap.?
Fortunately, there is a nifty tool writers can use to avoid this pitfall.?I call it the law of the legitimate opposite.?It states that when a statement does not have a legitimate opposite, it is not worth making.?It is hard to imagine someone saying irresponsible exploration is key, or we want a CIO who cannot combine business knowledge with technical depth.?
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Or consider the following:
In each of these examples, there is actually something worthwhile to explore.?What does it mean to be truly customer focused, and how does that differ from normal practices??Which of our decisions need to be data-driven, and what data would we need, in what timeframe, to be in whose hands, to actually execute this idea??What market does our product lead, by virtue of what features, delivering what benefits to what kinds of users, and why does that matter??This is real stuff—but we will never get to it if we start with a vague claim and state it as a foregone conclusion.
That’s what I think.?What do you think?
President @ O'Neill Consulting Group LLC | Business Management, Marketing Consultant
1 年What you're trying to address is driven by legal's fear. Legal will let marketing make a claim but require them to make it as vague as possible. Plausible deniability. On the flip side, if there is a solid and defensible marketing claim, marketing needs to have the facts and courage to step up. If there are no verifiable facts then no claim.
CEO at Center4BI and Center4AI
1 年Geoffrey Moore Just imagine how much more pablum will fill the world thanks to large language models (GPT). Exercising one's own brain brings a deep sense of satisfaction.
Investor and Advisor, Specialist in Market Development and Product-Marketing-Sales Growth Planning for Tech-Based Companies
1 年Pablum is so commonplace, and has been for awhile. I wonder how the growing adoption of chatGPT will amplify this problem. Perhaps our schools can start teaching critical thinking, and the ability to see the operational implications of platitudes
Ghostwriter. Marketer. Brand coach.
1 年This is why people need to learn to think, read, and write. Pablum in a windstorm is messy, confusing, and ultimately useless. Strunk and White are not merely teachers of rhetoric, they're business visionaries!
Geoffrey Moore very insightful ??