1, 2, 3
Have you ever taken a product or initiative from 0 to 1 ? This expression is now very common in job descriptions for companies looking to hire product managers, product builders, or late startup founders. As entrepreneurial magicians, product builders create something (1) out of nothing (0), hence the expression 0-to-1 also expressed as 0 → 1. I’m suggesting a new skillset for talent acquisition teams: the skill to take something from 1 to 2 and from 2 to 3. Un, dos, tres (Un pasito p'alante María).
In a fascinating training I took years ago at CEPIG, Matthieu Maurice explained to the participants that in a healthy relationship both parties must strive to find a “common superior interest”. This is the essential element that can transform sterile conversations into fruitful collaborations. The ability of one or both of the parties to elevate towards a shared common interest can be referred to as the ability to go from 1 (self-centered) to 2 (collaboration). For instance, I’m no longer considering my own interests and objectives, but I’m taking into account and consideration somebody else’s concerns and objectives. That’s why listening skills are so critical, that’s why communication is key and so on. Isn’t it what product manager, product marketing managers do ? An attempt to align interests from both parties, a tech provider and a potential customer ? On the tech side, engineers will say my tech is amazing and it can do multiple things, solve your problems. On the sales side, customers will say I have multiple problems and I don’t know how to solve them. The skill of a product person (manager or marketing manager) is the ability to find this shared common interest between two parties, the subtle mapping of a problem with its solution. This ability can be expressed as 1 → 2 avoiding the pitfall of 1=1.
If we push the exercise a bit further, we could say that there is also a skill to go from 2 to 3. You see where I’m going, the 3rd element could be the AI. I just finished reading Aurélie Jean’s book called “Le code a changé : Amour et sexualité au temps des algorithmes”. In a late chapter Aurélie Jean introduces the concept of algorithms acting as intermediaries in a sentimental relationship, the way a 3rd component (person or objects) can act as a desire booster in sentimental relationships in literature. “On ne désire pas rigoureusement la personne qu’on a en face de nous pour ce qu’elle est strictement, mais on désire une image d’elle à travers ce troisième élément”. The introduction of a 3rd element in a user / product relationship could play a similar role of turbocharging desire. What if AI was this 3rd component in our relationships with products ? Predictive AI in social networks, learning from our past browsing and suggesting content we’ll probably engage with does exactly that. (I’m not judging if that’s a positive outcome or not). If AI is the new intermediary, it’s understandable that the web fears from no longer playing the main intermediary’s role.
To summarize, the full journey looks like from 0 → 1 you build, from 1 → 2 you align needs and possibilities, from 2 → 3 AI introduces a brand new relationship between a user and the product, because it proactively adapts to changing needs and because it is now fundamentally conversational. I am suggesting a new skill set for talent acquisition managers : from 0 to 1, you build something out of nothing (ex nihilo). From 1 to 2, you create possibilities out of antagonism (ex aequo), from 2 to 3, you introduce with AI a 3rd element to foster lasting engagement (ex pluribus unum).