Navigating the Perils of Wrong Questions

How do we get people back in the officeThe fastest growing group on Reddit is quotAntiWorkquot which has growntenfold in the past year to 16 million quotidlersquot Half of the respondents say they still have fulltime jobsAntiWork is filled with stories that workers say prove that their bosses do not care about them likequotJust a friendly reminder unfortunately we are all disposable and can get replaced in an instantquotquotEven if you try your best and slave away hours it wonamp8217t pay offquotquotBoss makes a dollar I make a dime Thatamp8217s why I fk around on company time babyquotBut its most celebrated posts are screenshots of resignation letters and text messages They proved so popular that moderators restricted their publication to SundaysquotIdlersquot as members of the AntiWork movement call themselves largely believe that people should strive to work as little as possible and preferably for themselvesquotWe maybe consider that there might be an alternative to living our lives in thrall to the wealthiest among us serving their profitquot said historian Benjamin Hunnicutt a University of Iowa professor whose books on the history of work are featured in rantiworkamp8217s library quotMaybe there are other things to do with our lives than piling up profits for those that are ultrarich and taking that time reclaiming that timequotWhile AntiWork might be an extreme example the Great Resignation among other things signals that we should not be asking quotHow do we get people back to the officequot but quotHow do we attract and retain talent by ensuring that work regardless of where it is done enables growth purpose and meaningquotHow do we benchmark against our competitorsThe greatest opportunities and threats to any company often come from outside its category and industry definitionAs Ford and GM and Toyota and BMW were benchmarking and gazing at each otheramp8217s belly buttons true value and innovation and market capitalization were being created by Uber and TeslaNokia and RIMBlackberry and Sony who dominated mobile phones could not imagine a crazy computer company coming from outside their ecosystem with a device that did not even have a physical keyboardYes indeed the iPhone was ridiculous when evaluated against existing benchmarks and definitionsBut we keep benchmarking against our existing competitors and by categories defined either by habit or industry and financial analystsIn a time of great innovation and change being less pathetic or slightly better than other pathetic firms will not make us greatMaybe we should be asking how we can create accessible solutions and experiences which people value and we can deliver with some combination of our current roots existing assets and distributionbrands and wings new assets and innovation If the future does not fit in the containers of the past why do we insist on looking at it with the mindsets of the pastHow do we satisfy our customerThere is a problem with customer obsession in that we tend to see and frame people through the lens of our products and services and our brandsMost people do not define themselves by their brands Smart companies like Procter and Gamble among others do not see the world only through the eyes of customers or their brands Because if they focused on looking at the world only through the lens of their brands the only thing PampampG would understand would be peopleamp8217s dirtsmell removal habitsIt removes dirt and smells from your butt Charmin your kidamp8217s butt Pampers your teeth Crest your clothes Tide your body Secret your fabrics FebreezeProcter and Gamble is admired not just because of its amazing marketing and research but because it thinks about people and not just customers and consumersThe question really is not quotHow do we satisfy customersquot but quotHow do we delight peoplequot By focusing on people it allows us to see things early and not be limited to existing definitions of our category and may be good for our existing customers better than just meeting their needsA story on why not obsessing on your existing customer and client needs may make senseIn my previous career I got many things right and saw many things early like digital etc But I was slightly late at seeing the importance of something that was going to be huge Search engine marketing Why Maybe because Iamp8217m stupid and cannot see beyond my elbows when trying to look ahead In hindsight I console myself and explain my lack of acumen to being too clientfocusedSearch engine marketing initially was great for people who were either not advertising or were very small advertisers using classifieds or local papers In addition there were no real price breaks or placement advantages for spending like in television or magazinesNone of my clients or their competitors were asking for search and even if they did they had neither the leverage of spending nor the knowledge to gain a competitive advantageSo unlike broadband video social gaming mobile and much more where we moved early there we were initially a step behindOopsThe good news is that we figured out what was going on and we quickly made a big acquisition Performics from Google when they bought DoubleClickLearning Clients and customers matter since they pay the bills but focus on behavior and needs of the people they serve and not just themHow to minimize the chance of asking the wrong questionHere are three ways you and your firm may minimize the risk of asking the wrong question1 Look at the question you are trying to ask and turn it around and see if it makes more senseHere is an example Should you focus on how to get the cheapest arrows or should you be asking how you can get the best archersPaying more for quality is always cheaper in the long run since itthey tend to work faster think better last longer and signal to your organization that you understand that buying cheap pigs may be buying diseased pigs and could lead to poisoned hot dogs2 Run a fearfree organization where people can voice their opinions and challenge the status quoTime and time again we find that the idea for the next big thing was born in the last big thing but the management of the last big thing squashed the idea since it did not fit in the business model Or we find that the problem was clear for all to see but was looked away from since it would mean the person who called it out might lose their jobThe brown moist thing in the middle of the table is not always a brownie It could be a turd Here is how you can help your organization call out the quotturd on the tablequot3 Look from amp8220there to hereamp8221 and not from amp8220here to therequotThe questions you would ask would be different if you asked yourself what you would do if you started with a blank sheet of paperThe only constraints companies cannot truly change are the laws of the country laws of science and the need to break even at a particular point in time Everything else should be flexibleWhen one starts with where one is versus where one wants to be there are many constraints and rules that no start up or new competitor from outside the category would be limited byClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Navigating the Perils of Wrong Questions

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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Navigating the Perils of Wrong Questions

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