The new fundamental unit of value creation
Since the early industrialism, companies have evolved from selling mass produced one-size-fits-all objects, to gradually offering more choices. To compete, customized and individual solutions are becoming even more specific, to the point where they are created for a particular context: The most valuable solution should not just match an individual user’s profile, it’s also composed for a particular time and location and taking the current availability of resources into account.
The unit of value in the industrial model was a product. If consumers wanted faster or more comfortable transportation, they would buy a better and bigger car.
The new unit of value is an “instance” – a contextualized solution.
Solving your need – rather than selling you a product
A bigger car will generally not get you faster to your destination. Instead, the outcome you need - mobility - can be improved by coordinating the use of the car with a range of other resources. Knowing that you can drive directly to a vacant parking place, making a quick and smooth transfer to a train, or being able to use a city bike saves time. Sharing the ride with others saves money, and reduces congestion in traffic.
The car company can still be part of these solutions, but the new value for customers is created by coordinating all the elements involved in mobility in the specific situation.
Such solutions, coordinated to fit the user’s particular context, might be called ”instances”.
