What Is Different

I was speaking to a school administrator recently who wanted to know what was different about my course and book. She replied, "oh everyone says that."

Very true!

So what is different? AS far as I can tell, what I learned from the people I worked for is how integrated the customer is from the very beginning, integral to the process of confirming the premise of your business (the value you provide) while the idea is still in your head, integral in the development of the product, integral into its source and the distribution, and everything that follows.

And it is not a arms-length integration, it is repeat visits to the very customers you propose to have someday.

Our schools tend to mislead people in the process. they say "customer" and then send people off in the wrong direction. Know your customer, but learn from reports and books. It does not work.

The artist and the scientist are two distinct types that face challenges when integrating the customer. The artist believes he has an innate understanding of what the customer will buy. No. The scientist believes he can study the facts and develop what the customer will buy. No. Both swear the customer is integrated, but it is not true. The only way you find out what the customer thinks is ask the customer.

It is sort of Zen, but a business is all customer, zero you. The more you realize this, the more you integrate the customer, and the more you succeed. Paradoxical.

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