Book Excerpts
These posts are the full-text excerpt from my book, Beyond The Obvious. Here, I discuss the idea of “thinking outside the box” and how it can help you innovate better. It is my hope that by reading these posts, readers can learn how to think differently and develop innovative ideas. I also provide examples from my journey as an innovator so readers can get a real-world perspective on creativity and innovation. Thanks for reading!
In-house or Outsource as Needed?
What is your organization’s philosophy about design and development? Do you keep everything in-house, or do you outsource as needed? There are two schools of thoughts on this. By keeping the design process in-house, a company can build a sense of continuity and cohesion that links the entire family
Changing customers
At HP, we have an Executive Briefing Center; where our large corporate clients come to be briefed about the latest technologies and products that are either in development or about to hit the market. Now, technically this service is for them. We are offering them information and opportunities to sta
Decide to Keep or Push Out Customers
We tend to assume that any customer is a good customer. However, if you find that you’re working like crazy and have a solid and reliable customer base, but you’re still not making the profits you expected, then ask the Killer Question, Who do I not want to use my product? Do you remember back […]
What customers are saying and thinking about you
A few years ago, a passenger complaint letter to Virgin Atlantic circulated around the web. It was very long, fully illustrated with photos, clearly somewhat tongue-in-cheek, and very funny, but it made a few good points about the bad food and surly service this particular passenger had experienced.
Keep your users passionate in a positive way
I’ve never shopped at the online craft marketplace Etsy.com. I’m not often in the market for hand-knitted iPod cozies, customized guitar cables, or the like. However, since 2005 Etsy.com has signed more than 400,000 merchants and nearly seven million users. Their annual sales figures for 2010 were $
Unshakable Beliefs: Know What Your Customers Want
One thing is to know what your customers want to do, another is to understand how they intend to get it done. It’s easy to look at their goals and tell yourself that your product will match their needs. However, if you don’t understand their internal philosophy about what they are doing and why they
Discovering the Hidden Buying Criteria of Your Customers
Do you know what your customer’s reasons are for choosing your product over that of your competitor’s? When was the last time you really explored what does, or doesn’t, motivate your customer? What is hidden buying criteria they use? Just a few years ago a computer’s screen size was one of the key d
Your objective is to sell your product. Your customers objective is to solve a problem.
Once a product has sold, it’s pretty much out of your control. You may have an idea why people will buy it, and what they’ll do with it, but the most you can ever do is guess. So why are you assuming that you know what your customer actually likes and values about your product, […]
Explore Observe Ask: Suspend Your Own Assumption
I used to spend a lot of time in India, as most tech guys do. The subcontinent can be spectacularly disorienting for a Westerner. On one trip, I stayed in a blissfully air-conditioned, five-star hotel. Outside there was 100-degree heat, and the uniquely foul stench of Kolkata’s open sewers and packe
Understand The Needs Wants and Fears of Your Customers
All your work, all your ideas, all your devotion and sacrifice mean nothing if you’re not confident of whom you are doing it for or why. In order to succeed—whether you are developing a new product, service, or process—you must understand the needs, wants, and sometimes fears of the person you are t
