Reverse Assumption

One of the exciting things that I learned in my Strategic Thinking and Problem Solving class is Reverse Assumption.

It begins with listing assumptions about a given subject and then challenging the assumptions by reversing them.

Amazon is a prime example.

Assumption: Need stores to sell products Reversal: No stores are needed to sell products Idea: The Internet

While pondering over the idea of Reverse Assumption, I wanted to note a few things. I usually prefer MS Word, but I have been switching to Grammarly in recent times.

It made me realize that Grammarly is yet another example of Reverse Assumption and is an excellent product idea.

While competitors of Word were busy improving the features and finding ways to make customers download it, Grammarly realized that they needn't follow the traditional path.

What did they do?

Rather than forcing customers to download the product, they made it accessible via the Internet. No extra features, no download, no memory needed. Just a platform to write things with good grammar.

It is highly likely that people start using Grammarly more profoundly than MS Word in the coming months.

Now, that’s one way of thinking of a product idea. Using Reverse Assumption to disrupt the market.

Orginally published on LinkedIn