The Talerman Method

Extraordinarily Actionable Wisdom

Everyone’s looking for lightning in a bottle —those rare insights that illuminate a truth and electrify your work. Sometimes you just get lucky. But serendipity, like lightning, usually doesn’t strike twice.

The Talerman Method was created by The Nucleus Group founder, Elizabeth Talerman, to systematize serendipity.

STEP ONE:

Wonder out loud

We begin by collecting all possible wonders

STEP TWO:

Question everything

Challenge the outer limits of a wonder.

STEP THREE:

Observe patterns

Explore unexpected parallels to reveal potential hypotheses. 

STEP FOUR:

Test for truth

Design qualitative and/or quantitative research to test the veracity and potency of each hypothesis.

STEP FIVE:

Unfold wisdom

Finally, we take the learnings from research and craft it into stories and tools that stick with people. The end of this process is the beginning of your progress.

Step one:

Wonder out loud

We begin by collecting all possible wonders

  • • Why isn’t Gen Z Connecting with my brand?

    • How will a merger affect our purpose?

    • Do people really need our products?

    • Are we reaching as many people as we can be?

    • I wonder what… we could create next?

Step two:

Question everything

Challenge the outer limits of a wonder.

  • Is the nature of connection changing in culture?

    How does this generation conceive of and represent itself? Can we be more specific than a generation? What does your current audience value and how do those values present in younger subcultures? What formative events have shaped, united or divided these people? What are they doing to correct or cope with the after effects of those events?

    What does the brand signal to different people today? How has that changed over time?

Step three:

Observe patterns

Explore unexpected parallels to reveal potential hypotheses.

  • How has the concept of connection changed in the past? What institutions survived previous value shift eras?

    How are generational bridges built (and burnt)?

Step four:

Test for truth

Design qualitative and/or quantitative research to test the veracity and potency of each hypothesis.

Step five:

Unfold wisdom

Finally, we take the learnings from research and craft it into stories and tools that stick with people. The end of this process is the beginning of your progress.

Ready to put wonder to work?

Practice the process.

Below is a collection of tools and teaching materials we trust. they are yours to apply, improve and share.