Intuition and insights

Without insights, we might as well go to the Casino and say, "All in."

Assumed audience: Reader who look forward to the Product Execution series.

Two things to talk about today: Intuition and insights.

Intuition because it’s how most businesses, projects, and products started. Steve Jobs followed his intuition, and we have Apple today. Jeff Bezos had an instinct that Kindle was a vital innovation that Amazon needed. You get the idea…

Insights because our intuition is not enough. Look at this tech graveyard that recorded 200 startups that failed. Insights are the snippet of understanding about our users—the people we seek to serve. When we talk to this group, we want to understand their worldview and how they operate.

Then we think: Is our intuition makes sense? Can I envision creating a positive change I seek to make? How can I sharpen this intuition and execute it?

It is an essential concept to kick off our discussion about Product Execution. 

If we don’t dare to make that intuition, we won’t have a starting point. We won’t have an airplane if Wright Brothers didn’t listen to their intuition, made hypotheses, and built the first airplane in 1903.

If we don’t seek insight from people, we might build something no one wants. We might as well go to the Casino and say, "All in." You could win, but by surprise not by design.

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Related post: Product execution series