Monday, June 26, 2006
Uncovering a Faulty Question
My daughter Becca (a statistical analyst for the US Air Force) recently visited. During her visit, we discussed her work and she express frustration with how people often fail to find an answer to their problems because the questions they ask are faulty. And as we planned a joint project together, she demonstrated this truth during our planning.
She has been planning to use her statistical skills to help me do some market research on the niche of setting and achieving goals (a common cause of failure for many new online businesses). We talked for several hours about my reasons for choosing that niche.
As we talked, I repeatedly expressed my frustration at all the faulty approaches I saw people make when they start their businesses. I hate to see new business owners grow discouraged and give up. I was passionate in my desire to help them get past that first hump. And the more we talked, the more we found ourselves in areas much deeper than simple goal-setting.
We discussed people's expectations when starting a business, their preparedness, their attitudes. Eventually, Becca exclaimed, "So what you're passionate about is more about motivation than goal-setting, isn't it?"
She was right. The question I was asking was just the tip of the iceburg when it came to finding a way to help new business owners. Opening up the deeper questions turned our plans in an entirely different, and more exciting, direction.
Never settle for the surface questions, the questions that suggest the answer within them. Take the time to dig into your own passion for a subject and the emotions of your potential customers. It's harder, but it's also far more worthwhile to avoid the shortcuts and take the scenic route to your destination.
Jeff
My daughter Becca (a statistical analyst for the US Air Force) recently visited. During her visit, we discussed her work and she express frustration with how people often fail to find an answer to their problems because the questions they ask are faulty. And as we planned a joint project together, she demonstrated this truth during our planning.
She has been planning to use her statistical skills to help me do some market research on the niche of setting and achieving goals (a common cause of failure for many new online businesses). We talked for several hours about my reasons for choosing that niche.
As we talked, I repeatedly expressed my frustration at all the faulty approaches I saw people make when they start their businesses. I hate to see new business owners grow discouraged and give up. I was passionate in my desire to help them get past that first hump. And the more we talked, the more we found ourselves in areas much deeper than simple goal-setting.
We discussed people's expectations when starting a business, their preparedness, their attitudes. Eventually, Becca exclaimed, "So what you're passionate about is more about motivation than goal-setting, isn't it?"
She was right. The question I was asking was just the tip of the iceburg when it came to finding a way to help new business owners. Opening up the deeper questions turned our plans in an entirely different, and more exciting, direction.
Never settle for the surface questions, the questions that suggest the answer within them. Take the time to dig into your own passion for a subject and the emotions of your potential customers. It's harder, but it's also far more worthwhile to avoid the shortcuts and take the scenic route to your destination.
Jeff
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