1, Drivers of co-creation – why should you get started?

(This series of posts is based on my literature review – ask me for sources in the comments.)

As a service design practitioner I am convinced about the need for customer involvement – but only about half of the reviewed literature addressed why co-creation should be practiced. And except for a few, arguments are not too convincing from a senior executive point of view.

Technological progress and convergence of industries are often-cited factors that tip the balance of power towards the customer. But these affect more than just a necessity for co-creation, and business leaders are well aware of them, so are their own are not convincing.

We have been seeing the rise of the competent customer. One who is better informed, has a global view and more choice, is connecting through community networks, is more aware marketing messages. She has more power, can easily achieve critical mass to influence organizations, and sparring with organizations comes natural to them. Some even argue appearance of consumers as producer – and thus competitor.

Many argue that because of above drivers, and early adopters companies, customer co-creation is simply a necessity. But let’s not open up the champagne yet: full societal transformation to a co-creation mindset may take several decades.

More drastic views claim strategy is no longer a mastery of a known game, but rather navigating through fog, where co-creation is the only way to achieve strategic innovation, and

“doing strategy without customers is like dancing with a rag doll.”

– I just love this quote from “The Power of Co-creation” by Francis J. Gouillart and Venkat Ramaswamy.

In my opinion some arguments for drivers, though noble, do not pass the test of scrutiny due to missing data. Like the strong role of activist socially- and environmentally-conscious customers. Or that flow of information will be more valuable than stock of information. Or that market dominance is increasingly difficult to maintain.

It says a lot about the drivers for co-creation that one book simply says, “you have to trust that it will lead to success”… Good luck convincing your CEO with that. But luckily, some CEOs do have this trust, as you’ll see in the next post about Mindset.