Reaching the homes of a million kids: what did I learn?
I write this, as we make our way into the homes of over 1 million children!
I wanted to share a few things we’ve learnt on this incredible journey; lessons that helped me grow as a professional, and hopefully, anyone who will read this. PlayShifu began with the idea of turning something considered ‘bad’ into potential ‘good’. A tricky mission (in any era) that’s guaranteed to throw a few unexpected lessons your way. Here’s my collection from the past 6 years:
Today’s ‘bad’ habits can be turned good
We started with the idea of making screen time healthy, for a generation that will never know a device-free world. But, why should that be bad? If we could leverage the almost infinite learning potential of tech, there is so much to be had. Perceptions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ can change, if we’re willing to look for the tools. Never step away from an idea, because it is currently considered ‘negative’.?
Communication is key
You have a great idea. Something you genuinely believe adds value to people's lives, and makes business sense. Now, how do you make it work??
For it to actualize, people need to be willing to try things that AREN'T tested (idea-stage products). How can you get them to do that? In my experience, two steps help:?
Acknowledge their intelligence and importance, don't get too wrapped up in the 'newness' of your idea, rather keep the focus on how it adds value to THEIR lives. For example: "A metabolism tracking app unlike any other!" vs. "We make it easy for you to learn why your body feels like it does. Understand your metabolism better!"?
Creative minds need purpose
Creative people, in particular, need high motivation to serve business goals. Their motivation levels can go up and down quite easily, based on their environment. A key factor in keeping that spark kindled is to find a balance between project management and unstructured creative ideation. When their ideas are simply allowed to flow, it becomes naturally easier for this work to eventually see the light of day WITH a business perspective. This maintains the ‘disruptive’ edge that startups are always looking for!
You WILL fail
If it is possible, digest this before starting off. Every failure will, however, teach you something. And no failure is the end of the world. The key is the speed at which you adapt and add these learnings into your pathway. Develop a robust system to nitpick and analyze!
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People connect to emotions, NOT brands
Humanizing is very very important. When communicating and articulating about a service or product, keep human voices and feelings at the core. It’s not the camera, but the moment it allows you to capture. It’s not the car, but the trips you make. It’s not the toy, but the skills it helps your child build and the imagination it fosters. While creating, it’s easy to fall into a trap of simply admiring the creation itself. Make sure there are enough counter voices in your system. They certainly helped me!
Learn from other sectors
It’s easy to get into a closed loop of your own ‘space’. Sometimes, the most unrelated sectors have things to teach. If you keep an eye out, it helps break monotony. For example, while building our Parent Hub app, we developed a feature called insights that offers progress curves in different skills areas (based on deep analytics), and helps a parent understand how much their child is learning from playtime. I used stock trading apps (like RobinHood) as a reference with our team. They crystallize tons of info and present in a good visual format for decision-making. We were trying to achieve something similar.
Instinct matters
SO many times, we’ve come up with ideas that sounded good in our head as pure creative thoughts. But, would they make ‘business sense’? Creative/product AND business instincts–when they work in conjunction, is when we achieve success! We entered the market with hypotheses and instinct on both sides. We innovated to merge both. Do instincts matter? YES, they do. But in a more wholesome sense, than is commonly understood. It was this understanding that gained us the trust of parents and educators, which in turn informed and multiplied our drive to innovate.
Don’t always look for blueprints
New ideas don’t have existing pathways. Sure, I’ve learnt from the trajectories of various others, but sometimes, going out and getting rejected is inevitable. It helps to remind yourself of why YOU believe in the idea. Eventually, that belief rubs off!
Ultimately, remember, any large-scale real world impact needs a village! Creating a culture that attracts like minded people, who enjoy each other's company as much as work/product is paramount for the foundation. You create a family-like environment in the workspace, and people go way above and beyond their responsibilities and potential!
These are just a few quick nuggets on my mind. There are many more I’d love to share over time. But, I can’t end this post without mentioning how indebted I am to a team of incredibly diverse individuals who put faith in our core ideas. THEY are the weight that keeps our center of gravity low and ambitions…sky high.
We’ve reached a million children because of them, and onward we go!
Super proud!