Dive 91: Don’t give customers what they want
Hey, it’s Alvin!
One of the most important business lessons I ever learned was:
Don’t give customers what they want. Give customers what they need.
Below the surface, it’s really a LIFE lesson. And there’s a practical limitation to it you have to overcome if you want to make the most of it. For those unfamiliar with this expression, here’s an example of what it means.
Suppose Alex asks Chris for a box.
So, Chris gives Alex a jewellery box. No, no. See, Alex wanted one of those big cardboard boxes for when you’re moving to a new home. So, Chris gives Alex a big cardboard box.
Later, Alex returns and asks for a chair instead. The box was too flimsy. I guess Alex needed something to sit on… So, Chris gives Alex a chair.
Then Alex asks Chris for a table instead. The chair wasn’t tall enough…
Wait… tall enough? Why exactly was Alex asking for all this stuff?
It turns out Alex needed something to stand on to replace a lightbulb hanging near the ceiling. Chris addressed what Alex wanted. But replacing a lightbulb was what Alex needed. If Chris understood Alex’s underlying need, then Chris could’ve avoided wasting time on solutions that could never satisfy his client.
“If I had asked the people what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses.”
- A quote often attributed to Henry Ford
Addressing the root cause(s) of a customer’s problem will save you time and effort. But doing business isn’t always so straightforward. Because what if you have multiple customers who need help at the same time? What if you have multiple needs to address?
Concurrent Customers
In life, as in business, we often have to help more than one person at the same time. But we can only help so many people at once. So, we need to prioritize. How so? By considering our own needs.
Don’t give customers what they want. Give customers what they need prioritized by your own needs.
It helps to think about a counterexample.
When I was a junior software developer, I worked for a team that managed its key project in what I call a “Run ‘n’ Gun” way. My time there looked like this:
I’d start on Feature A.
My boss comes to me the next day and says, “Alvin, our client wants Feature B. Get on it. Go back to Feature A when you’re done with B.” So, I’d pause A and start on B.
A few days later, my boss says, “we have a new client. We need to get them set up fast. They really need Feature C. Work on Feature C right away. Circle back to Feature B when you’re done.” So, I’d pause B and start C.
Then, maybe a bug appears that blocks an existing client. So, I’d shift gears to fix the bug before returning to Feature C.
A few days after that, my boss says, “we have a demo for an important prospective client. We promised them Feature D…”
You can see where this is going. The next task was always the most recent demand from our boss or customer. It didn’t matter how complex the task was. It didn’t matter how important the issue was to the customer. What mattered was “who complained last?”
I call this the Run ‘n’ Gun approach.
Remember when my boss told me to circle back to a previous feature I was working on after I was done with the most recent one? Often, that never happened. Many features just piled on top of a growing to-do list. Never addressed again. At least, not by me. But working on feature after feature without completing them feels unproductive.
An incomplete feature isn’t just a (sunk) cost to the company. It’s a cost to the developer, too. I felt like those features I couldn’t finish were just tossed into the trash. Or a black hole. That the time and effort I spent on them were utterly useless. And there’s a fine line between “my work is trash” and “I am trash.”
Many of my teammates were indifferent. It was hard not to be. Because if you cared too much, you’d be depressed. Because you knew nothing would improve.
The Run ‘n’ Gun approach to project “management” had a lasting impact on my mental health, personal growth and career progression.
All of this happens when teams chase a customer’s wants because a customer will always have tons of wants or wants that constantly change. This happens when we cut the flower of a weed when we need to address the roots.
But there is a way to address multiple concurrent needs.
Proper Prioritization
I have since worked with other software development teams that have been much better at prioritization. It goes like this:
When there’s a request for a new feature, we first chat with the customer to understand their needs. This way, we focus on the few improvements that satisfy our customers rather than a barrage of wants that don’t.
Then, we create a ticket (i.e. a to-do item) detailing what our customer needs. Our product manager, then, determines how important it is alongside every other ticket in our backlog (i.e. to-do list). Sometimes, it is a top-priority item. Then we’ll drop what we’re doing and work on it first.
The importance of an item depends on how critical it is to the success of the company. So, often companies prioritize requests by big customers over smaller ones. Because companies don’t want to risk losing their biggest revenue sources. For example, since advertising is YouTube’s primary revenue source, YouTube would likely prioritize pleasing advertising agencies over content creators. Companies focus on what benefits them most (or costs them least) when they have multiple needs competing for their attention.
I’m not saying this is the best approach. But it’s certainly better than Running ‘n’ Gunning. The key is: we’re always working on the most important task relative to everything else on our plate. Rather than just the most recent one. And every task in our backlog addresses a need. Not a want.
This ensures that no one’s time is wasted. No work is thrown out. Everything we do always has a meaningful, positive impact on the customer, the business and/or the team.
Now, here’s why everything I mentioned is just as important for a happy life.
Life Lessons
Your attention is valuable. Every money-making organization and person wants as much of it as possible because they want as much of your money as they can take. So, all these people want to persuade you to prioritize them. The biggest players being the news media, big tech companies, and the government.
Every day, for instance, the news pushes some social or political cause in your face. It could even be some event happening in a country half-way across the world. It shouldn’t matter. But they’ll try to shame you if you don’t care about the cause. You want to be a good person, don’t you?
Today, you’ll be told to fight discrimination. Tomorrow, it’s a fight against climate change. The day after, maybe ALS. This is just Running ‘n’ Gunning in society. And if you think about it, every cause is a want disguised as a need.
Sure, people will donate some money, post about it on social media, and dump a bucket of ice over their heads. We’ll be told we made a difference. Or we might not do it again. But if we’re honest with ourselves, it doesn’t feel like we ever make a meaningful dent in any issue we’re told to care about. Whatever time and effort we give to a cause feels like it goes into a black hole. And something happens after years of going through these motions.
You’re told to care about all these causes. But a person who genuinely cares can become depressed when they realize nothing they did had a meaningful impact.
Otherwise, people become indifferent. People will “care” enough to donate money and post about it. But that’s it. There’s no desire to make sure a practical, positive difference is made. All this means that for most people, Running ‘n’ Gunning social causes leaves them feeling hopelessly living a meaningless existence deep down inside.
It’s depressing.
And it happens when we let others dictate what we care about day-by-day.
What can we do about it?
Focus on needs over wants.
Prioritize needs with the greatest impact.
Know your values. Some things will always be more important to you than others. Know what matters most to you. And know how the social cause of the day fits into your list. Don’t let others decide for you what matters to you.
Know that someone else’s cause isn’t necessarily yours and there’s nothing wrong with that. You have your own battles. Stick with your battles, and you’ll live a happier, more meaningful life.
Reply to belowthesurfacetop@gmail.com or click “Message Alvin” below if you have questions or comments. I’d love the hear from you.
Thank you for reading. Fight your battles. And I’ll see you in the next one.