Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 10OCT11

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

We make the world better when we simplify problems for customers, when what we create is so glaringly obvious that people say to themselves, “I wonder why nobody did that before?”

We make things better when we step back, look carefully and say, “What exists can be done much, much better. What would be really exciting for our customers?”

Steve Jobs didn’t focus on incrementalism. He focused on what would excite and delight the world–what would create a compelling customer experience. And, did Steve and Apple ever succeed in creating excitement!

The technology world paused to pay attention whenever Steve took the stage–people couldn’t wait to hear how he and Apple would rock their world.

• There were mp3 players before the iPod.
• There were smart phones before the iPhone.
• There were tablet computers before the iPad.

None of the forerunners to these Apple products comes close to capturing the excitement that Apple created.  Not even close.

The lesson? Incrementalism won’t help your company thrive. A relentless focus on the customer experience will help your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“…Almost everything— all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” -Steve Jobs

 

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

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