Ideas for you!

Which problem are you solving? Often it’s the wrong one. 

When faced with a business challenge, we’re often tempted to solve the NEXT thing without taking time to understand the RIGHT thing to solve. 

We wind up shortsighted and miss the real problem we need to solve for. This only fuels more frustration, more unhappy customers, and more dwindling cash flow. It's a vicious whirlpool threatening to sink the ship.

What you need is to define your North Star. A simple, yet powerful way to know what you are trying to solve for. 

A North Star has 4 things

1. It has to be Simple
2. It defines Value to your customers
3. It reflects changes in their journey
4. It correlates to revenue (but it's NOT revenue)

A good example of that is our friends at Airbnb. They were able to come up with a clear defined problem to solve: Get More Nights Booked.

Their North star is Nights Booked. It's simple, talks about the user value and defines success for them. 

If Airbnb would...

Our experiences and beliefs limit what we believe is possible (e.g. the type of experiences we create for our customers). As a result, we may be leaving opportunities at the door or money on the table.

Often times we rush to come up with ideas
without realizing all the unconscious biases
that are informing our decision. 

Think back to how Netflix killed Blockbuster. Blockbuster was being oblivious to what customers wanted and needed. They lacked empathy and understanding of their users. They didn't pause to consider their customers' evolving needs and their pain points, like being tired of paying late fees, or the need for additional convenience. 

Don't be like Blockbuster. When you need to solve a problem, the first step is to pause. 

And shift from viewing the problem from your perspective to embracing the problem from THEIR experiences and beliefs.  This perspective shift enables you to unlock solutions that are ALL ABOUT them and not you. 

You...