Ever feel it's overwhelming to face the sheer volume of choices you've got at hand? From new product ideas and marketing strategies all the way to personal decisions, options are overwhelming. That's where the How Now Wow concept comes in: as a tool to help you organize and prioritize all the options you are likely to be presented with, to then easily decide which is the better one.
What is the How Now Wow Technique?
The How Now Wow technique is a systematic and organized method in making a decision. It helps a person categorize their notions or alternatives into three main categories:
How: The How notions are creative, and highly ambitious ideas having the possibility to be a game-changer. But most of the time, they can be very risky or impossible to implement. In that scenario, those ideas have the potential for transforming your innovation but would also require a lot of work and resources to go for it.
Now: Quick, easy-to-implement ideas with minimal effort and resources. Quick-win ideas that can be implemented immediately with very little risk.
Wow: These ideas walk the fine line between being innovative and feasible. They're less risky than the "How" ideas, but more impactful than the "Now" ideas.
These can often be visibly laid out using a How Now Wow Template. This usually takes the form of a matrix, with one axis being innovation and the other being the ease of implementation. This template will allow you to clearly see your options and decide on which ones to pursue.
Why Use the How Now Wow Technique?
There are several benefits to using the How Now Wow technique:
Clarity and Focus: It helps to clarify and be focused on ideas with the highest potential effect. This way, you are not spending valuable time on options that hold lesser importance.
Efficient Use of Resources: You use your resources efficiently because you identify "Now" options, such as quick wins, and "How" and "Wow" options that demand more strategic efforts.
Balanced Approach: The technique makes room for both pragmatism and aspiration. You can always pursue some of the visionary ideas, at the same time you secure some of the quick, simple wins.
Using the How Now Wow Technique
To use the How Now Wow technique, follow these steps:
Generate Ideas:
Bring together all potential options or ideas in relation to your decision or project.
Sort Ideas:
The How Now Wow Template consequently finds each of its ideas in one of three categories, regarding how innovative and how easy it is to implement.
How: These are big, seemingly difficult-to-implement ideas, but physically possible.
Now: These are simple-to-implement ideas that can be done quickly, with minimal resources.
Wow: These are very innovative ideas—at the same time, highly doable.
Take Action and Prioritize:
Study the ideas in each group and choose the ones to take to action based on your objectives and capacity.
Example: Implementing How Now Wow in a Restaurant
Suppose you own a restaurant and want to boost customer satisfaction. Here is how you might apply the How Now Wow method:
Brainstorming Ideas:
Start up a customer loyalty program.
Do some interior redesigning for your restaurant so that it gets a modern look.
Offer cooking classes on weekends to customers.
Add vegan options to the menu.
Use the How Now Wow Template when Categorizing Ideas:
How: Offer cooking classes. This is quite high-impact but requires a lot of planning and resources.
Now: Start a loyalty program. It's easy, so it gives a quick win.
Wow: Expand the menu to include some vegan choices. Again, this idea is pretty 'wow' but doable based on current resources.
Sequencing Actions:
Begin with the loyalty program for the quick win ("Now").
Plan menu expansion to cater to more customers' needs and dietary preferences ("Wow").
Consider the cooking classes a longer-term project in order to engage customers further ("How").
Ready to Use the How Wow Now Technique For Your Business Strategy ?
The Now How Wow technique gives a very easy and yet powerful tool in organizing and setting priorities regarding your ideas. This way, one is able to make clearer decisions, allocate resources in a more effective manner, and strike a balance between quick wins and innovative projects in a better way.
To learn more about how you can utilize innovation tools for the success of your business strategies, give us a shout at www.firstloop.se/contact
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