If you aren’t solving big problems, stop & pivot
Big problems (like good things) come in all shapes and sizes, so only you can decide what big means to you. For some, it will be large societal changes like stopping world hunger or transforming the school system, for others it will be improving customer loyalty or retaining employees. Regardless of the size, you know you are working on a big problem when you have talked to your customers and understand how solving it will significantly improve their lives.
Identifying big customer problems and solving them in unique and elegant ways sparks the greatest innovations.
Case in point — I recently moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, and while that is only 400 miles away, it felt like the other side of the country to our close family and friends.
But with the advent of things like FaceTime and Skype, staying connected while we are on opposite sides of the state has been much easier. We even joined holiday celebrations, lighting the candles at Channukah and singing together via FaceTime. My kids enjoy showing toys to their friends back home over Skype. It is crazy to watch them use it, but that’s a different blog post about user experience.
What did Skype and FaceTime solve for? A desire for people to stay more emotionally connected all over the world.
I have heard skeptics say things like “our solution isn’t really solving a problem customers know they have. It is a new way of doing things that they didn’t know they wanted.”
This is probably the biggest misunderstanding related to solving big problems — the solution doesn’t need to be designed by the customer. In fact, that often leads to more of the same. Take the old Henry Ford example — if he had listened to what his customers wanted, he would have built a faster horse. The solutions, when done well, are delightful and feel like something new and exciting. But solving a problem underlies it all — we need to go from point A to point B faster.
I have a mantra that most people who know me well have heard many times — “we are not our customers.” Solving big problems for your customers starts with assuming we know nothing. Get your boots on and go visit them.
A great leader, and someone I have the utmost respect for, once made this proclamation to the entire staff:
“If what you are working on isn’t connected to this initiative, stop and pivot.”
By focusing only on big problems to be solved, you are also making a choice of what not to do.
Often we get too committed to seeing the outcome of every initiative we have in progress no matter its level of importance, but imagine freeing your organization from the noise. Getting clearer focus on what is going to move the needle.
Strategy is more than what you will do, it includes what you are choosing not to do. Good strategy development is a series of choices. Listen to what your customer pain points are and pick wisely.
Remember — If you aren’t solving big problems, stop and pivot.
Michelle Denogean is SVP Product & Marketing for in/PACT, a Purpose Activation platform and the former CMO at Edmunds.com. She is a senior marketing executive, thought leader & practitioner in the world of business strategy, growth marketing, brand communications and digital disruption. Michelle is currently advising companies looking to disrupt their respective industries. This post is part of her leadership {playbook}, intended to advise, inspire and mentor leaders at all levels.
Follow Michelle on Twitter: @DenogeanNow
http://michelledenogean.com
