11 Stars

This was another big a-ha from the mastermind I mentioned earlier. Someone shared the concept of "designing an eleven star experience"

from this article from AirBNB co-founder Reid Hoffman, and I love love love it.

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(It's Lesson #2 in the article and you should really read how he explains it.)

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The point is to get to unexpected ideas by pushing all the way into crazytown territory, before pulling back a bit.

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​Here's how to apply it:

• Take whatever project you're working on, and imagine whatever the 5-star experience of that thing would look like. Because 5-stars is the best, right?

  
  

• Cool. Now, imagine what a 6-star experience would look like. Better than five stars, obviously.

  
  

• Then 7-star. 8, 9, 10. And finally, what would an ELEVEN star version of this look like? Write out a vision for what each step might be like.

  
  

• By necessity, the latter versions will look pretty crazy and out-of-this world. But go there and write out a vision of it.

  
  

• Somewhere between the 5 star ideas and the 11 star ideas are probably some actual things your team could make happen to create an amazing experience in the context of whatever your project is.

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Give it a shot — and if you're up for it, email me what your 11-star vision looks like. I'd love to see what you came up with. Especially if it's crazytown.