An Introduction to The Business Model Canvas

This post refers to an upcoming session that I’ll be facilitating at the RallyOn Conference (on May 10th on the Frontiers track)…

Do you have a Business Model? Chances are that you do.

Can you describe it? Chances are that it’s a struggle to describe – at least succinctly.

Business Model Innovation has been one of the major proving grounds for both existing and growing companies over the past decade. The Wikipedia page on Business Model Innovation indicates that approximately 14 of the 19 entrants to the Fortune 500 between 1997 and 2007 owe their success to business model innovation.

While we frequently talk about different aspects of our Business Models, it’s rare that we ever have a common language that we can use to show the entire system that exists behind our companies and/or products. The Business Model Canvas is a simple way to visualize a business model and explore alternatives while seeing the systemic impacts that tweaks or pivots might have.

Why am I talking about this at RallyOn?

I think we have seen tremendous success with agile over the past decade and I’m confident that given the right environment that teams can succeed with agile principles and practices. My observations over the past few years have brought me to the conclusion that although we can prepare the environment for execution of strategy – it’s rare that strategy is taking advantage of the acceleration in delivery.

The Business Model Canvas is a tool that we can use to help see, accelerate, and pivot strategy in a thoughtful, visible, and intentional way.