Every great category has a truth that stands out from what people think today. A truth that is different than what people currently believe. One that can change people’s minds and motivate them to step away from the status quo and leap towards a new, shared vision. This truth stands at the heart of your business and your category.

Without this fundamental, counter-narrative truth at the center of your business, you risk becoming like every other business - stuck in a sea of sameness, fighting to stay relevant through chasing cheaper or better. In other words, you’re not a category creator.

If you’re not sure what that truth is, and you’re ready to find it: we want to share this tool with you – we call it the Counter-Narrative Story Finder.

It will help you go against the received wisdom of your space and get customers to accept a new vision for how things could work.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Misbeliefs: Your customers have current (mis-)beliefs. They have a certain lens to look at the world, their problems and their solutions. List all of the misbeliefs your customers adhere to.

Take Warby Parker as an example: People believed you had to go to a store to try on glasses. People believed glasses had to cost hundreds of dollars. People accepted these beliefs as the way of life.

Step 2: Your truth. You know that there is a better or different way to do things. You know that there is a solution that can change the experience. Make it simpler, easier, quicker, more integrated, faster. You name it. Literally. Write down all the truths you can think of.

Then boil it down to a single statement. That’s the truth at the center of your business.

Warby Parker knew there was a better way to buy glasses. One where they could leverage an existing distribution network. A platform already accessed by millions. They knew buying glasses could be easier, simpler, more fun and socially conscious. At a fraction of the cost. The simple truth: Finding and buying your glasses is not difficult or expensive. Nor does it require you leaving your house. Buying glasses should be easy and fun.

Step 3: Vision. List the possibilities that this truth unlocks.What happens when your company, customers, and the world accept this new truth and adopt your product offering.

Warby Parker envisions a world where everyone has access to a pair of glasses at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially conscious businesses. They leveraged their truth and designed their business around it. Buying glasses hasn’t been the same since.

And there you have it: your first endeavor into defining the fundamental truth of your business. You now have this remarkable truth you can leverage to position your company in a new category.