Straw Man Proposal
Before we get started on this edition of the newsletter, I want to let you know that some of your feedback regarding the length of the post has been taken into consideration. Based on that, I will attempt to make the posts approximately 300-500 words long starting today.
If you’ve got any more feedback for me or have topic suggestions, just reply back to this email and I’ll be happy to explore them.
Now let’s get on to today’s concept...The Straw man proposal.
What is the Straw Man Proposal?
It is an hypothesis-driven problem-solving method created by Mckinsey that is often used to solve customer problems in a structured manner. The idea is to create a proposal that is not intended as the final solution to the problem but rather as a tool to get a conversation started to arrive at a possible solution.
The aim is to tear the proposal down and build it back up based on feedback and results.
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Stages & Steps Involved
The process to be followed for implementing the Straw man proposal is fairly straightforward and it can be customised to suit your organisation or the specific problems you are looking to solve.
There are however, four stages to a Straw man proposal: Conceptualise => Discuss => Clarify => Decide
These 4 stages can be further broken down into 6 steps:
Create an initial hypothesis
Make a preliminary outline
Invite criticism & use that feedback to iterate
Make a presentation both for and against the proposal
Create a simple working model (real or simulation)
Make a solid plan based on the results of the model
One of the drawbacks of this technique is that it works well mostly with groups and is suboptimal for small founder teams.
With that out of the way, let’s look at this in action with an example of a lemonade stand franchise where the founders want to increase revenues per stall.
1) Create an initial hypothesis
Introduce lemon soda along with the lemonade.
2) Make a preliminary outline
Things that need to be considered while introducing lemon soda;
Additional cost of soda
Inventory management
Pricing the lemon soda
New menu design
Customer preference for soda
Promotional activities
Projected soda sales
3) Invite criticism & iterate using feedback
Some drawback to consider here would be:
Unhealthy reputation of soda
Additional promotional & marketing costs
Diverting away from the core product
4) Make a presentation both for and against the proposal
In this stage you take the criticism and feedback to make a data-driven case, both for and against the introduction of lemon soda. The aim here is to convince the people in the audience to agree with your motion.
5) Create a simple working model or a sample
In this stage, you can work with spreadsheets for relevant data-based modeling or create a sample store to understand the possible changes in your operations as a consequence of introducing the lemon soda.
6) Make a solid plan based on the feedback & results
Now backed with the data from modeling or running the sample store, you can collate all the learnings to form a water-tight plan to launch lemon soda. On the other hand if the modeling and/or the sample store didn’t deliver positive results, you can go back to step 1 and start with a new hypothesis.
Advantages of the Straw Man Proposal
The main advantage is that the Straw man proposal is its cost effectiveness, meaning you do not need to expend resources to arrive at a viable solution if it can be achieved through brainstorming & modeling. With this approach you also give participants more freedom to tear proposals apart without them having the pressure of dismantling a solid plan/strategy.
Plus, the Straw man proposal given its structure is a much better starting point for solving problems rather than discussions based on abstract ideas.
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Recommended Implementation Practices
While the implementation is fairly straightforward, these recommended practices will help you get the most out of the process. So here they are:
The proposal should be communicated as a rough draft and not as a final solution.
Boundaries of the draft should be reasonably flexible to allow innovation.
Investment in terms of time and money should be minimal.
Prevention of participants from assuming ownership of the draft for themselves or others is critical to avoid pressure or bias.
The motivation should be to tear the draft (or the idea supporting it) apart initially rather than agreeing with it.
Perfection is not the goal here. So initially, the quantity of semi-formed ideas should be prioritised over quality.
So that is it. A very useful problem-solving technique in less than 500 words.
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Thanks for reading & keep it rational.