We avoid this question all the time, and it costs us.
Don’t put kerosene in an electric car. It won’t work. Don’t give your dog dark chocolate, it’ll make him sick.
And yet, we often hesitate to be honest about what gets us moving.
What puts something at the top of your priority list, or pushes you to put in extra effort? What challenges or rewards do you keep coming back to, gig after gig, job after job?
Here are few to get you started:
Someone who is free climbing at Yosemite probably has different fuel than the person on the treadmill at the gym. The emergency room doctor is not the same as someone working in public health.
The structure, shared measurements and near universal recognition of a quest for an Olympic medal can capture an athlete’s life for ten years–but then, once they retire from this special condition, it’s possible that they’ll never again find this sort of motivation.
“How are you?” is a benign question, but the honest answer might reveal which fuel we’re focusing on, helping us see what we’re drawn to–and it’s rarely universal. That’s part of the hiding. We’d like to believe that anyone else facing the same choices we have would use the same fuel and demand the same priorities we do. Look around. Fuel isn’t universal.
If the fuel you’ve chosen is helping you get to where you want to go, that’s fabulous. For most of us, though, it might be worth a pause to consider whether it’s what we really need to fill our days or create the change we seek.
Organizations invest to create an audience that sticks with them, either because they have no choice or because of an emotional connection.
When this occurs, most then take profits. They decrease service, increase pricing and generally seek payback for the work they did to get to this position.
But there’s another path.
Every change creates tension. And if you’ve got lock in and loyalty, you can create that tension without losing too many customers.
What if you use that tension to persistently and markedly improve the experience? Not to make it more convenient, but to make it worth the effort to learn to do better?
On a good day, that’s what companies like Apple do.
Most of the time, the MBAs push for the short-term profit taking we’re all used to (and tired of).
But if you get the chance, perhaps you can help people get to where they seek to go, even if the journey requires effort for you and for them.
The mass market is seductive. It’s ‘everyone’. The mass market is powerful, but it’s only slightly interested.
The opposite of mass is special.
People who have chosen not to be in the mass market. People who want something else. Perhaps something better, certainly something interesting.
You can seek to serve the masses.
Or you can make something special. For people seeking special.
The last of the series! Thanks to everyone who was part of it.
Danny Meyer has changed the way we think about hospitality and what it’s like to eat out. His new book comes out in a few days, and it was a great excuse for two friends to sit down and talk about solving problems.
Your turn. Go host your own KnotChat. Thanks for reading and for leading.
We can either accept that this is the state of our audience and plan appropriately…
Or do the very difficult work of changing their state.
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