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Annoying “Gotcha!” Conversation Stoppers

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Things people say in arguments that annoy me:

"You can’t say that!" – Mr. Politically Correct. (A response: "I just fucking did. So respond.")

"Correlation does not equal causation!" – Mr. I Took Statistics 101. (A response: "True, but some correlation in the right way does show something.")

"In the end, you can’t judge someone else’s choices. You’re not in their shoes." – Mr. Relativist. (A response: "True you can’t judge 100% without 100% information, but don’t you think that some choices are better than other, some values better than others, some truths more sensible than others?")

"But here’s a counter-example!" – Mr. I-Think-One-Anecdote-to-the-Contrary-Disproves-a-General-Theory. (A response: "That’s the exception that proves the rule.")

Listening to Customers is Harder Than It Seems

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Maintaining a core value of "listening to our customers" is trendy among companies big and small. But it’s harder than it seems. Albert Wenger absolutely nails it in this post about why listening to customers is hard, hard, hard. Key excerpt below, bold font my own. I want to highlight point #2 — it is often the case that customers do not know what they want, or actually don’t want what they say they want.

First, which customers should you listen to? Is it the early adopters or should you try to identify what you believe to be “mainstream” customers? This turns out to be very hard to answer. If you don’t keep the early adopters at least somewhat happy you may never make it to the mainstream. Or it could be that there is no real mainstream for your product, so looking for it might make you neglect the early adopters you already have. Conversely, if you only cater to early adopters you might build something that fills their generally more advanced needs but is too complicated for the mainstream.

Second, how should you listen to customers? Is it what they are saying about the product/site/service or what they are doing? Here too are conflicting pieces of advice. On one hand is the theory that for every one customer complaining about a particular problem there is a silent group of 100 or more having the same problem but not bothering to complain. On the other is the view that verbal complaints and even more so feature requests tend to be what users “think” they want as opposed to what they actually want need (thanks to tweetip for pointing this out). The latter can only be learned, the theory goes, by observing their actual use. Often what customers say and what they do conflicts.

Third, how should you reconcile listening to your customers with your strategy? This is often the hardest part. You have a strategy that you believe in. It’s difficult enough to not outright ignore any customer feedback that’s not on strategy. After all, you don’t want to be a flag waving in the wind and shifting with every breeze. But how can you tell that apart from your customers telling you that your strategy is actually wrong? What if you are trying to solve too hard a problem, when the customers really need something much simpler?

On point #1, I think you have to develop for the early adopters and just accept that you will probably over-develop and need to modify the product for the mainstream. This is a frustrating cost but an unavoidable one since capturing the early adopters, winning their support, and leveraging their testimonial into mainstream accounts is critical. In my experience many mainstream customers fancy themselves early adopters and hence won’t discount the early adopter’s testimonial as much as they should (in the sense that a product working in an early adopter won’t necessarily work in a mainstream inasmuch as the needs and cultures are different) allowing the company to really leverage an early adopter’s success to potential clients who actually look and act different.

Attack on Every Pitch – AOEP

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A friend who works at a division 1 baseball program told me a lot of the staffers sign off emails with "AOEP" which stands for Attack on Every Pitch. It’s a pitcher’s mantra. It doesn’t mean the pitcher has to throw strikes every pitch — a pitcher can still attack a hitter’s weakness by throwing out of the zone. It simply means that each pitch should have a purpose.

This one is easily adapted to business / life. I like it. Attack on every pitch.

Rincon de Vieja – Part 2 – The Hike

Posted inCosta Rica1 Comment on Rincon de Vieja – Part 2 – The Hike

In Rincon de Vieja National Park, there are a couple volcanos. To reach the craters, it’s advertised as a seven hour roundtrip hike from the entrance of the park and you have to sign a waiver before doing it releasing the national park and Costa Rica of any liability. Stan and I thought we could do it quicker. We’re both fit and Stan is an experienced mountain climber in Colorado.

We set off at around 9:30 AM and began the trek. The first hour and a half was an uphill but pleasant hike through some forest / jungle. Lots of trees and shrubs around us and a canopy overhead blocking the sun. We stopped a few times to get water, but overall, it wasn’t too hard. We saw only two other people in this section of the hike — they were older but determined to continue on, it seemed.

After we emerged from the canopy section, out in the open air, we stared up at the crater and were startled with how far away it was and moreover, how steep the trail seemed to the top. We walked on and up through, still feeling pretty good and confident with our pace.

We eventually reached a sign that had two arrows and messages: one pointed to the “difficult” path and said “Use caution” and the other pointed to the “easy” path. We couldn’t decide which one to follow, we flipped a coin, and it landed on the easy path. We set off in that direction and within a couple minutes had to decend a steep, poorly constructed path downhill toward a river. We were amazed this was labeled the less difficult of the two paths — even this brief downhill section was muddy and challenging and it’s hard to see people with big bags or wobbly legs doing it.

At the bottom of the hill we had to cross a river and then came upon a wall of solid dirt and rock with a rope hanging down. WTF? Would we have to use the rope to ascend this wall like a rock climbing wall? It appeared so, and we hauled ourself up. By this point we were stunned at how difficult the going had become. And it had just started.

For the next 40 minutes we gained elevation very quickly as the trail became a stairmaster with muddy footholes and narrow lanes winding through shrubs. No crossbacks, no zig zags, no flat land. Just straight uphill. Exhausting. Very very exhausting. The farther up we got we had to stop every couple minutes to catch our breath.

We felt some raindrops and this added to the stress. The day prior we had been rained on, hard, and we didn’t want to have a situation where it started raining Costa Rica-style and we were left on the side of a mountain with the paths would quickly disintegrate into a mudslide.

As we climbed and climbed I think stopping and turning back crossed our minds. There wasn’t another soul on the mountain and the prospect of rain was scary — not only for our clothes / comfort but for the safety of being able to come back down.

We ended up making it up the steep hill, barely, and the worst was over. We still had to hike up to the peak of the mountain and then walk around the edge, but the uphill was largley over. My quads were shaking.

The top of the crater was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Deserted. Moon-like. Rocks and nothing else. Then some green leaves here and there. We walked along the narrow path at the very top of the crater and finally reached active volcano. A sign said we couldn’t stay for more than 15 minutes b/c toxic gases emitting out of the steamy crater are dangerous. We checked it out, turned back, and found a wind-secluded area where we could have a bag lunch.

Truly one of the more exhausting, crazy, but worthwhile physical experiences I’ve had!

Monster Hike in Costa Rica and Resilience

Posted inTravel4 Comments on Monster Hike in Costa Rica and Resilience

As I mentioned in my last post, your loyal blogger is on the road, and isn’t sitting with his legs kicked up on a Costa Rican beach reading books under a tree (ok – well maybe a little of that). He also loves the outdoors and as such tries to be "active."

My friend Stan and I hiked up to the volcano crater of Rincon de la Vieja National Park (45 mins NE of Liberia, CR). It was one of the more challenging physical experiences I’ve endured. It wasn’t the time — it took seven hours round trip — but the immense steepness and poorly constructed trails that made it utterly grueling. Think stairmaster in mud.

The three following pictures illuminate how the hike went. Here I am at the outset of our hike, smiling, happy, and ready to go. The volcano is that big mountain in the background. Fyi, my collar is only popped to protect against sun burn — wouldn’t want to be confused with an east coast prep school kid!

Cimg3186 Then after a grueling three hours up a muddy and mind-blowingly steep mountain, the picture looks much different:
Cimg3195

When we finally reached the crater area, we walked along trail leading to the huge pit of steam and sulfur. It must be a close sibling of the moon, because if this isn’t a moonscape, I don’t know what is:Cimg3198

Stan and I joked that we were both "deeply humbled" by Mother Nature. Our trek was worth it. I’m a big believer in the importance of resilience and believe one’s "Resilience Quotient" (RQ) is transferable. That is, the experience of enduring hardship but ultimately finishing the job can help in other parts of life. Stan and I didn’t turn back, we finished the hike, and now have a great story and photos.

OK – back to reading on the beach.