In the land of the headcahe.... Where does it hurt?

In the land of the headache the man with the aspirin is king.

Those of you who know me, been at one of my workshops or met me on an airplane somewhere, will know that this is one of the several phrases I use continually - they would probably say incessantly. It’s been at the centre of all the innovation projects I’ve worked on over the years and my mantra. The answer to the question that leads from this, what is their, and by their I mean customer/colleague/supplier/, biggest headache, opens up a world of opportunity for innovation and creativity. You can refine it further it lots of ways but esentially we are interested in figuring out what is their nagging headache, that just annoys. Not so much the migraine with the flashing lights and spinning rooms but their day to day pains and aggravations.

It’s one of my favourite beautiful questions because it makes us focus at exactly the right point and view ourselves and the world through the customer or user’s spectacles. It’s a metaphor which everyone gets, so everyone can join in the process.

The point to remember is that it doesn’t focus on customer complaints, just their mild annoyances. You don’t always have to strive for world class practices, just eliminate worst practices to have a beautiful company product or service.

If you are looking for real life examples look at the differences between Sky and British Telecom in the UK. Two behemoths in the comms field yet perceived in two different ways, largely because of one simple thing. The letters they send to their clients. Sky write warmly, lucidly, clearly, using language we love that engages me, as it is real and relevant. BT?.. well words fail me, which is rare. It’s a small thing but a very big thing - one that makes all the difference. Especially when excellent customer service is no longer a differentiator; these days that comes as standard or you are history.

If they have a headache then that’s absolutely brilliant news for you - as that is the opportunity presented for innovation to differentiate you from the competition. It may be aspirin, ibuprofen or a gentle neck massage that cures it. That’s up to you to figure out.

So what are the other beautiful questions?

Glad you asked. If you want my top 100 Beautiful Questions for Innovation drop me a mail at barryrainmaker@mac.com or put me into your RSS reader. That was no 1 by the way.