Decide as if you were a fucking millionaire

Daniele Catalanotto
Mar 19, 2022
A Service Design principle to help you think about what's really important


“What would you do if you had millions of dollars and two years of sabbatical time?”

This question helps people realize the real work they passionately believe and that makes a real impact.

When we think we have the money, something magical happens. We shift our values from money to purpose. We go from: "What could pay the bills? What could make the company extremely profitable?" to a new set of questions, like:

"What would make sense?", "What would be fun?", "What would I continue to do even if I wasn't paid to do it?"

The same magic happens with time. When we think we have enough time, we are not driven anymore by urgency. There is enough time to make something big happen within a two-year time frame.

Service creators can use this question to discover the actual value they want to bring to their customers.

Think like a millionaire. What would you do if money wasn't an issue and you had plenty of time?



Little side notes

  • This is the second draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • I was able to reduce the lengths by 60% compared to the first version.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
  • As always feel free to share comments, feedback or personal stories to improve this principle.
Like
Patrick Marcelissen
May 9, 2022
Great, but be prepared what you ask for. If I had millions I quit working 😂 at least in the first few years.

Anyway it is clear to read the message from this principle 
Daniele Catalanotto
Jun 4, 2022
It worked :P It revealed you need a long holiday or a sabbatical :P 

All jokes aside, thanks a lot Patrick for all the comments, even when you just said that it was clear. It's always a motivation boost to realize that someone is reading on the other side :) 
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 31, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

What would you do if you were a millionaire?

This question is pretty magical. With it, we go from: "What could pay the bills?" to a new set of questions, like: "What would make sense?", "What would I continue to do even if I wasn't paid to do it?"

We shift our values from money to purpose.

The same magic happens with time. When we think we have enough time, we are not driven anymore by urgency.

We can use this question to discover the value we want to bring to the people we serve.

So let me ask you:

What would you do if you were a millionaire with plenty of time?

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 24 % compared to the previous draft.