Agree, everything should trace to an enduring human need.
The things that could satisfy those needs aren’t always accepted unless they get the right push. COVID brought many things to the forefront that might not have otherwise succeeded.
Matching the need to a solution and getting the timing right based on social norms, etc. is key.
I agree that strategy should start with customer needs. Too often, companies create products or services that people do not want. Even more often lately, executives forget about their customer's needs and alienate them. Examples include Gillette (Toxic Masculinity), Bud Light (Trans Influencer), Hertz (100,000 EV fleet target), and GM (All EVs by 2035). These companies now say that they will listen to the customer's needs. Amazing that they had to learn this lesson the hard way.
Many thanks for the comment, Paul. Most of the strategic goals are 'me-goals' as I call them. They are all about shareholders and, at most, executives, but not about customers. Most business metrics we use – revenue, profit, stock price – are not about customers who are supposed to be 'an asset', a means to an end.
Agree, everything should trace to an enduring human need.
The things that could satisfy those needs aren’t always accepted unless they get the right push. COVID brought many things to the forefront that might not have otherwise succeeded.
Matching the need to a solution and getting the timing right based on social norms, etc. is key.
Interestingly, some things that COVID brought haven't managed to stick. Companies push employees to go to the office, and Peloton stock is plummeting.
I agree that strategy should start with customer needs. Too often, companies create products or services that people do not want. Even more often lately, executives forget about their customer's needs and alienate them. Examples include Gillette (Toxic Masculinity), Bud Light (Trans Influencer), Hertz (100,000 EV fleet target), and GM (All EVs by 2035). These companies now say that they will listen to the customer's needs. Amazing that they had to learn this lesson the hard way.
Many thanks for the comment, Paul. Most of the strategic goals are 'me-goals' as I call them. They are all about shareholders and, at most, executives, but not about customers. Most business metrics we use – revenue, profit, stock price – are not about customers who are supposed to be 'an asset', a means to an end.