Love Like a Startup: Redesigning Relationships with Innovation and Play

It may not sound romantic, but it could be the shake-up your relationship needs

What if you applied the same due diligence one applies to a business but to your relationship? Considering the aspects of it that aren’t working, would benefit from a rethink or even a pivot, or even, perhaps, a complete overhaul. In other words, putting aside romantic ideals and realistically assessing one’s relationship for its true value.

Marni Battista

, a recent guest on my podcast, is a powerhouse in life design and innovation strategy who has been redefining how we think about love, and she’s got the credentials to back it up. Marni is a bestselling author of Your Radical Living Challenge and founder of the Institute for Living Creatively, with decades of experience helping people craft lives that suit their aspirations and desires, and not according to societal expectations.

I’m a big believer that post 50+ is a great time to have a relationship shake-up and take a hard look at what’s working and what isn’t. Think about it – we no longer have to think about procreating, our kids are, typically, old enough to look after themselves and we may have some degree of financial freedom that allows us to have more choice over how we live than we did when we were younger.

For some, this may mean becoming polyamorous or ethically non-monogamous, others may consider ditching the house and car, going on a forever road trip and a life of adventure.

Marni is a great example of someone who decided to combine an extended road trip in order to shake up her relationship, by approaching love like a startup applying creative experiments rather than rigid rules.

Now, let’s explore, using Marni Battista’s method, with a nod to the Stanford Design Thinking Model, how you can redesign your relationship using business principles but with a dose of humour while staying true to yourself and your core beliefs.