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What it is: Like all good strategy, it points to a goal or a what, does not dictate or preclude a certain how. The example that makes me go “ooooh I get it” is the principle “something that gets better with time”: one clear answer being leather. Principles do not dictate a solution - they characterize what about the solution must be true for it to work. They are underpinned by strong insights about how people live life today, think about life today.
How to use principles (once we have them):
Bring qual insights into actionable starting points
Be ruthless in culling ideas to hew to closest to principle
Select metrics that signal we were on the right track
Principles can take many shapes... they can be short pithy statements, they can be large posters capturing the essence of moments, they could be succinct adjectives the team rallies around.
This works great with
Brainstorming - Principles give you an anchor point to ideate around
Design decisions - Principles become the measuring stick you can use to gain confidence in choosing one option over another
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