The Thirty-Six Stratagems | Episode 17: Casting a Brick to Attract Jade - Giving a Little to Gain a Lot

People think that
“value should be presented in full from the start.”
However, in reality, the moment you present too much,

the other party stops contributing anything further.
True results are born

“when you give a little and draw out a large response.”

[Meaning of the 17th Stratagem of the Thirty-Six Stratagems]

Casting a Brick to Attract Jade (Housen Ingyoku)
Throwing a brick to attract a gem.

A strategy of presenting something of low value first
to draw out greater value from the other party.

What is important is not “giving.”
It is “creating the trigger to draw out the other party's maximum value.”

[Modern Interpretation]

In many situations, people act like this:

• Presenting the full specifications from the start
• Providing the optimal solution from the start
• Explaining everything from the start

However, in this case, the other party will not move any further.
On the other hand, there is another way.

• Daring to present an incomplete proposal
• Presenting only a small hypothesis
• Throwing it out while leaving room for interpretation

Then, the other party will:

• Begin to provide supplements
• Begin to set conditions
• Begin to speak their true intentions

[Historical Example]

In the literary society of China's Tang Dynasty,
there was a custom at poetry gatherings.

When a poet first presented nearly unfinished lines of poetry,
other literati who saw them would compete to complete them,
returning a poem of higher perfection.

This was especially famous during the era of Bai Juyi (772–846),
and it is said that his poetry gatherings had a culture of
“drawing out the creative desire of others by presenting only a part.”

In other words, rather than presenting a finished product from the start,
by presenting an unfinished part,
they drew out superior expressions from those around them.

This is not about giving value, but a design to
“draw out” value.

[Business Example]

A certain company,
in developing a new service,
dared to present only a simple concept model to the customer
rather than a complete product.

As a result,
a large number of specific requests and improvement proposals were provided by the customer,
and it ultimately evolved into specifications that exceeded initial expectations.

Why was this company able to maximize results by
"presenting an unfinished product"?

This company first did the following:

- Presented a prototype with intentionally limited functionality
- Did not clearly define the final specifications
- Presented usage scenarios abstractly

As a result,

- Specific improvement requests emerged from customers
- Unexpected use cases were suggested
- The priority of necessary functions became clear

Furthermore,

- Customers began to participate in the design process themselves
- The level of requirements naturally rose
- It converged into a highly refined specification

As a result,

- A product with higher functionality than initially expected was completed
- Customer satisfaction increased
- Market fit was high from the early stages of development

This company did not "create a finished product."
They "drew out the completion."

[Commentary]

The company's management thought as follows:

1. "Finished products stop reactions"

- Finished = no room for improvement
- Fully explained = discussion ends
- Presenting too much = participation disappears

2. "Incompleteness generates reactions"

- Unfinished = makes people want to complete it
- White space = opinions emerge
- Ambiguity = involvement begins

3. "Make the customer the designer"

- Drawing out requirements
- Drawing out improvements
- Drawing out specifications

- By doing this, they raised the quality of the product.

4. "Value is not something you give, but something you draw out"

- Not creating it ourselves
- Creating a state where the other party begins to create it

[Business Application Examples]

1. Product Development

Present a beta version and
draw out specifications from the customer

2. Sales Strategy

Instead of a complete proposal,
draw out requirements with a preliminary proposal

3. Consulting

Do not provide the answer,
but design it to draw out discussion

[Core Message]

Value is not something to be completed.
It is maximized when it is drawn out.

[Summary]

Throwing a brick to attract jade is not a technique of provision.
It is a "technique for designing reactions."

・Do not complete
・Leave room for improvement
・Draw out

Results are determined not by the "amount put out," but by the "amount drawn out."

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Thirty-Six Stratagems | Episode 18:
Capture the Ring-leader to Capture the Band - Control the Center to Stop the Whole

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