The new feature. The helpful service. The thoughtful gesture. The planning tool.
All wonderful things. All created with the best intentions.
But here’s the uncomfortable question: Did anyone ask if that’s what they actually needed?
We tell ourselves we’re being customer-centric. We say we’re adding value. We convince ourselves it’s all about them.
Yet the real question lurks beneath: Who does this really serve?
The restaurant that adds seventeen new menu items isn’t helping the overwhelmed diner. The software that ships twenty new features isn’t solving for the confused user. The intensive planning system that does not simplify the process.
The executive who creates another initiative isn’t necessarily meeting a market need.
Sometimes the most generous thing we can do is ask first. Listen deeply. Resist the urge to build what we want to build.
Because value isn’t what we think we’re giving.
Value is what they actually need.
