Your customers can tell you the things that are broken and how they want to be made happy. Listen to them. Make them happy. But don't rely on them to create the future road map for your product or service. That's your job.
Interpretation
Engage with customers to understand their needs but take responsibility for innovation yourself.
This quote emphasizes the importance of listening to customer feedback to identify issues and improve satisfaction. However, it draws a clear line by stating that while customers can inform you of their desires and problems, the overall vision and strategic direction for a product or service should come from the business itself.
In practice
During a company meeting, to emphasize the importance of customer feedback.
If the pitch starts with a sob story, I'm out. If the pitch talks about personal issues, I'm out. If the pitch starts off with how big the market opportunity is, I'm out. If the pitch tells me what is unique about the product, how it can make a profit, and it's an area where I have expertise, I will read on.
Leaders don't look backwards to condemn what has already been done; they look forward to create a better future.
It doesn't matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.
I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.
Creating a close connection to those you do business with has its many risks, rewards and consequences._x000D_ _x000D_ There are few things in business I have encountered that are more difficult than firing someone, particularly if that someone has always been, or has become a friend._x000D_ _x000D_ On the flip side, I have been rewarded with many friends.
I'm always afraid of failing. It's great motivation to work harder.
Obvious prospects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profits for investors.
When a company identifies how to integrate the processes needed to give the consumer a sense of job completion, it can blow away the competition. A product is easy to copy, but experiences are very hard to replicate.
You go to any MBA program, and you will be taught the theory of the firm, that the purpose of the firm is the maximization of return on invested capital. I always thought this was a kind of lunacy.
Eventually, all companies are replaced.
I don't think a true company - one that builds sustainable value - can ever only exist online or remotely.
All businesses and jobs depend on a vast number of people, often unnoticed and unthanked, without which nothing really gets done. They are all human and deserve respect and gratitude.
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