EDream
An eDream is a dream or big idea that needs an 'e' (enablement) process to achieve it. It requires managing:
- Risk - time, money, reputations, relationships, job and personal well-being.
- Complexity - finding an intersection of competing interests within multiple people, areas of knowledge, funding sources and personal needs.
- People - decision makers, contributors, supporters and others impacted such as family, friends, employer, colleagues, teachers, classmates, etc.
- Multiple Years - discipline, enduring grit, fitting it in with life, securing knowledge and resources, multiple iterations of solutions, approaches and plan to get it right
An eDream can be a destination (i.e., graduate from college, open a restaurant, cure cancer) or journey (i.e., be a great mother, be a successful restaurateur, manage a chronic health condition). It may not seem like there is much in common between a dream to graduate from college and a big idea for a cancer cure, yet they each have similar eDream and Enablement components and development process to make them happen.
The following are the major components of the eDream that must be addressed and aligned for it to be viable.
- What is the purpose of the eDream? - Mission
- Who is/are pursuing the eDream? - Aspirer(s)
- Why does the mission need to be achieved? - Problem/Unmet Needs
- Who will benefit from the mission being achieved and the problem/unmet needs being addressed? - Beneficiaries
- How will the mission be achieved and problem/unmet needs be addressed? - Solution.
- How will the beneficiaries become aware of the solution that addresses their problem/unmet needs? - Communication
- How will the solution become viable and sustainable? - Operational
The eDream components are initially evaluated via eDream Insight to determine whether the eDream is a good idea. Once it is understood how each eDream component needs to be addressed, it is determined whether there is a way to minimally address all eDream components at the same time which is called eDream Intersection. The eDream components will evolve and iterate many times during the execution as new information is learned. The way in which each eDream component iterates must still ensure an eDream Intersection.
Contents
Mission
The mission is the aspirer(s) purpose and desired outcome of the eDream.
Mission Insight is the process of understanding the aspirer(s) purpose and desired outcome (mission) of an eDream, like improving the college graduation for disadvantaged students was for Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin.
Aspirer
Aspirer(s) are people who either want to pursue or are pursuing a dream, big idea or breakthrough innovation. An eDream may have one or multiple co-aspirers.
An eDream is not possible without an Aspirer nor without a cost to the Aspirer. Aspirer Insight may help the Aspirer determine if the pursuit of the eDream is worth the cost like it was for Steven Spielberg . Aspirer Insight will help the Aspirer understand why the mission is so important to themselves and other. Aspirer Insight helps to continuously monitor self-motivations, cost and impact to their lives as well as those of others.
Problem/UnMet Need
A problem or unmet need is the opportunity to improve prosperity as the result of the enablement of an eDream.
Problem/UnMet Need Insight helps to determines whether an eDream is a good idea based on understanding the beneficiaries problem/unmet needs that the eDream addresses. It offer insight into the potential impact from addressing the beneficiaries problem/unmet needs like finding other PEZ collectors did for Pamela Omidyar. It also helped Pamela's boyfriend at the time, aspirer Pierre Omidyar, help other beneficiaries like Pamela by getting the solution operational as the founder of eBay.
Beneficiary
A Beneficiary is the one or the multiple people who will directly benefit from the successful enablement of an eDream. There can be one or many beneficiaries of an eDream.
Beneficiary Insight helps to determines whether an eDream is a good idea based on understanding the beneficiaries and their problem/unmet needs. The more you understand the beneficiaries like this grandmother and their problems/unmet needs, the more likely you will be able to know if your eDream is a good idea.
Communication
For an eDream to be viable, it needs effective communication of the solution to the beneficiaries and other people that may influence the successful enablement.
Communication Insight helps to determines whether an eDream is a good idea based on understanding how the communications of solution to the beneficiaries and to people that may influence the successful enablement. Muhammad Yunus was able to effectively communicate his Nobel Prize winning solution to the poor village woman beneficiaries and capital investor stakeholders.
Solution
A successful solution addresses the problem/unmet need of the beneficiaries and achieves the mission of the aspirer(s).
Solution Insight helps to determines whether an eDream is a good idea based on understanding whether the solution addresses the problem/unmet need of the beneficiaries and achieves the mission of the aspirer(s). Muhammad Yunus was able to effectively develop his Nobel Prize winning solution. It provided a micro-credit solution for the poor village woman beneficiaries by addressing their problem/unmet need of not having access to loans to buy materials to make hand crafted products. It achieved the mission of the aspirer Muhammad Yunus by achieving his dream to improve the world after seeing people die from starvation in Bangladesh.
Operational
Operational is the production, delivery and sustainability of the required communication and solution for the beneficiary. It also includes getting operational the mission of the aspirer(s).
Operational Insight helps to determines whether an eDream is a good idea based on understanding the production, delivery and sustainability of the required communication and solution for the beneficiary. It also offers insight into getting operational the mission of the aspirer(s). Muhammad Yunus was able to get operational his micro-credit solution by establishing Grameen Bank in 1976. It's successful communication and solution operations helped to deliver over $8B in microloans to mostly women beneficiaries. Grameen Bank model helped aspirer Muhammad Yunus's get his microleading mission operational to serve 100 million people with $25 billion of loans.
Castellina in Tuscany, Italy and New York are two entirely different destinations with little in common. Yet evaluating whether it is a good idea (eDream Insight) to go there and what it would take to get there (Enablement Insight), may be similar. Travel to these destinations may require a different mix of planes, trains and automobiles, yet have a similar execution process to effectively manage the trip from point A to point B.
Great ideas or aha moments can be very important. While these ideas get all the fanfare, they represent as little as 1% of the process to make them happen. This site provides a framework to evaluate whether an eDream is a good idea (eDream Insight), how to make it happen (Enablement Insight) and how to effectively manage (Development Tracks) making it happen.
