Admit it your smiling.

Your smiling at the audacity of this grapefruit.

Your smiling at the rebellious nature of this fruit.

I mean whose ever witnessed a grapefruit actively pursuing a life? Most of the time they just sit there waiting to be sliced, diced and digested.

Enter grapefruit rebel, the tribal leader of the grapefruit rebellion; tired of life as other grapefruits have defined it; this little hottie is taking another path. She's  in bed, in the shower, cooking breakfast and writing a blog! 

 This grapefruit understands innovation, differentiation and value- girl she's got it going on!

You might be wondering if 'grapefruit rebel' is a technical term. No, it's a hilarious term that is helping me explain value innovation which is all the rage in business. 

I coined the term 'grapefruit rebel'  late New Years Eve in response to a friends uniqueness. You see as I was staring at my friend I thought about Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken and somehow instead of quoting poetic niceties I blurted, 'Your a grapefruit rebel!' I know; not smooth and he's still bothered by the whole comparison to a grapefruit; but that isn't what I meant, he doesn't even look like a grapefruit. What I was getting at was uniqueness, innovation, differentiation, integrity, the whole Robert Frost; Road Less Traveled lifestyle my friend epitomizes.

 What can this little grapefruit rebel teach you about value innovation?

Value Innovation is the road not taken.

Frost's famous poem is true not only for the life sojourner but also for the entrepreneur and business maven in pursuit of differentiation in the form of value innovation.

The Road Not Taken
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Value Innovation is the job of Robert Frost wanna be's and  grapefruit rebels! These leaders stand at the fork in the road and marketplace and brave the path, the road less traveled. Grapefruit rebels like the young grapefruit above orchestrate and galvanize grapefruit value innovation rebellions.

You see in business the strategy for high growth has changed. The old paradigm is dead and the new is here;  it's not about one upping your competition, or cutting your price 10% or making insignificant changes. The research is quite conclusive high growth ventures and companies are one's who are strategically rebellious; those who take quantum leaps, new roads and paths that offer the highest value to clients.

So what should you do if you want to be a value innovator? A grapefruit rebel? Lead a value rebellion in your industry? First you must ask entirely new questions of yourself and your business. You must think and do differently; like a grapefruit rebel. Don't take anything your industry is doing for granted, you must be willing to look across the competitive elements your industry competes on and ask what is adding unnecessary costs that drive price up without perceived increases in value? What is valued or desired that is not yet available?

Rebels don't assume. They don't follow the pack. They question everything and deep down they believe all rules were made to be broke, at least once in awhile. When you begin questioning life as other grapefruits have defined it; there's no limit to where you may find yourself.

Value Innovators Creed:

Industry conditions can be shaped …they are not set in stone!

Competition is NOT the benchmark; the goal is a quantum leap in value so NEW thinking is a MUST!

Value Innovation is wide and targets the MASS…this does not mean you aren't highly differentiated it means both you are differentiated AND you have MASS appeal; think Ipod, Iphone, Cirque De Solei and  Yellow Tail wine.

Value Innovators are conscious and present they don't live in the past. They ask themselves; what would I do if I were starting anew today…?

Finally; value innovators think in total solutions. Don't be narrow look at your clients life and think about all the solutions, problems and opportunities they offer then look at the chain of buyers and keep thinking outside the normal grapefruit box.

I'll be posting about value innovation all week- and I'll keep it as silly and off the wall as possible…

Because value matters

Pam