Context Is Everything

April Dunford is the world's leading expert on positioning - how to frame a product so customers understand its value. Her core insight: context changes everything.

The exact same product can be a massive success or a total flop depending on how you position it. Help Scout isn't 'customer service software' - it's 'customer service as a growth driver.' Same features. Completely different perception.

'Really great positioning just feels like it's so clear, it's so simple, of course that's what it is. Of course we need one of those.'

Parenting works the same way.

Your child running around screaming can be 'wild and out of control' or 'full of energy and expressing joy.' Both are true. One frame makes you anxious. The other lets you appreciate it.

Their stubbornness can be 'defiance' or 'strong-willed persistence.' Their endless questions can be 'exhausting' or 'beautiful curiosity.'

Dunford says the best positioning makes the value obvious to the right people. The same behavior positioned differently tells a different story about who your child is.

You're not lying. You're choosing which true story to tell. And the story you choose shapes how you respond, which shapes who they become.