100 Words for 10 Days | Day 4 | Our Customer, Our Alien

In Andy Weir’s new book, The Hail Mary Project, the hero must communicate with an alien life-form. Through constant interaction they come to understand each other. The longer they’re in the same room, the easier it gets. 

I’ve noticed how often during ideation a critical person’s missing, the customer. It would serve us well to treat our customers as E.T.s, striving to understand the nuance of their desires with no assumptions. Especially, what they’re trying to accomplish by “hiring” a product like ours. Research, properly shared, serves to keep them in the room. 

Live long and prosper.

100 Words for 10 Days | Day 3 | Use the Right Club

I’m a bad golfer! Imagine I’m standing 210 yards away, the green. I grab a 6-iron because that’s what Bryson DeChambeau uses from that distance. I swing, the ball flies 121 yards, rolls, and stops. Obviously, an amateur, shouldn’t use the same club as a pro.

Innovators, do this too. Often I’ve heard someone say, “Steve Jobs didn’t do research…” or, “Steve Jobs said consumers don’t know what they want.” For the same reason you shouldn’t use the club a pro does, please, please, let’s stop comparing ourselves to Steve Jobs. Do research, get insights, and satisfy your customers.

100 Words for 10 Days | Day 2 | Ripples of Relevancy

My love of social media has waned, my belief that social media is an important tool for insights hasn’t. If you only use social media to hear brand mentions you’re missing the opportunity. 

Consider focusing on “Ripples of Relevancy.” You do that by, first, looking for posts containing your brand or category. Then use those posts to uncover the concerns of customers that probably won’t contain your brand or category. 

Through this iterative process you find DIY solutions, niche brands, and off-label uses of existing products. This could become the most important stimulus for product ideation you’ve ever had.

100 Words for 10 Days | Day 1 | Culture of Clarity

“We have a great culture.” What, exactly, does that mean? Does a “great culture” mean good morale, unlimited vacation, a foosball table in the break room and free lunches? 

First and foremost, a great culture is a culture of clarity, meaning we never stop listening to the customer. It means killing the research budget isn’t the first thing we do a financial goal is missed. It means we never stop speaking truth to one another, even when uncomfortable. It means admitting our weaknesses when compared to our competition so we can grow and improve. Easy to say, hard to accomplish.

100 Words for 10 Days | Day 0 | Introduction

“I would have written a shorter letter but I didn’t have time.” This quote has been attributed to Twain, Cicero, and Pascal. In other words, brevity takes effort. 

Today, Dennis Devlin and I. agreed, clarity is driven by simplicity. After all our company’s name is Consumer Clarity. So, clarity is one of our core values. Interestingly, a side-benefit of clarity is often brevity. 

So today, I begin a clarity challenge. Over the next 10 days, I’m going to write 100 words or fewer about the 10 most important truths about insights and innovation.