tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2244295561839420640.post-1448782741903148892007-11-15T14:43:00.000-08:002007-11-15T14:47:38.078-08:00In business we typically don't ask customers what they want, rather we ask them what <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">problems</span> they have and as business leaders we try to find or create a product(s) that meets that need. As an example, if you asked a group of consumers in the 90's about what kind of portable electronic device they "wanted" the answer would have been a CD player that didn't skip. Focus group after focus group proved consumers wanted CD players as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">their</span> preferred media device. But the real answer was in the fact that they actually wanted something that didn't skip, but most consumers couldn't look past the form factor of the CD so that is what they asked for. Then, Apple introduced the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">iPod</span>. Consumers hadn't asked for an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">iPod</span> but all of a sudden a new product solved the issues they had with the old technology. If Apple had really listened to the consumer they <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">would</span> not have been an innovator, and arguably would have never solved the problem consumers really had.<br /><br />So how does this philosophy relate to being a council member. The answer is simply that I must look at my job as a councilman in a similar way. It is my job to listen beyond the specifics of what residents ask for and to actually figure out what problems they need solved. Presumably I was elected by you because you had faith in my ability to do this. For example, the city is commonly asked to install speed bumps on local streets. But really what is being asked is for the city to slow down <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">traffic</span>. Speed bumps happen to be one way to solve this problem but there are many other more effective solutions that most folks don't even know of. And arguably the most effective and innovative of those ideas probably hasn't even been thought of. Leadership is about finding opportunity (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">eg</span>. problems) and determining the best course of action to solve those problems. Sometimes this approach requires change, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">uncertainty</span>, and risk. These of course are all things we as a society are generally trained to be averse to.Dan Hubbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18202651663388452774noreply@blogger.com