"I am learning" — People in the earliest moments of possibility recognition. Casual exploration without pressure to commit. Building general awareness through content consumption.

"I am researching" — Active investigation and evidence gathering. Building comprehensive understanding through focused exploration. Comparing approaches and gathering evidence for decisions.

"I need help" — Explicit signal of readiness for expert guidance. Has questions requiring human answers. Authentic interest after sufficient independent research.

"I am buying" — Actively making purchasing decisions. Building internal conviction and coordinating stakeholders. Navigating organizational dynamics and making the business case.

"I must create value" — Active implementation with pressure to prove decision wisdom. Building new capability and navigating organizational change. Focused on demonstrating value.

"I realize your value" — Genuine value realization and validation. Using new capabilities and proving success. Optimizing usage and deepening integration.

"I tell others about you" — Natural sharing within authentic influence spheres. Telling peers about success, beginning internally before extending externally. Organic referral generation.

"I am a raving fan" — Industry leadership and methodology co-creation. Building communities of practice and advancing entire methodologies. Strategic partnership and mutual value multiplication.

Map your own organization onto the eight stages — a guided route through the Value Path as curriculum.

A session for each of the eight stages — what each stage looks like, what people need, and how to recognize the signals of progression.

Every published Value Path conversation with Joshua Oakes, in order. Start at the beginning or jump to the stage you need.