I hate killing ideas.
It's just not in my nature. I'm high on agreeableness and biased to think about options to solve problems that avoid conflict.
At the same time, I have a huge admiration for creativity and ingenuity. So it is specially hurtful when you know that an idea which someone invested a huge amount of honest energy just isn't right.
This week I listened to an interview on Tim Ferris's podcast with Sir James Dyson, the genius inventor behind the Dyson brand. It's an outstanding conversation, full of insights, which I recommend to everyone. One topic raised above all - the importance of making mistakes and Dyson's passion and joy for learning from those:
"...I've done many mistakes. There is no magic as of creating a successful invention in 1 day. I don't believe market research will give you the answer for what will work and what won't. It's all about logic and persistence. And making mistakes! If you don't make mistakes, you don't learn. And if you are not learning, it's actually not very fun, and you are limiting yourself. It's all about the small iterations that when put together make a successful product seem like a quantum leap in technology advancement".
Inspiring points, but to someone who works quite a lot with market research, it also invites for reflection. In fact, it created a weird bag of mixed feelings. A very similar bag to which I've experienced in a recent consumer research project I was involved at work.
The study was designed to test an idea, which had a lot of good momentum with different people in the business, including senior leaders. At the same time, the idea had that strange smell of something that definitely has something that isn't quite right. Which then invites all sorts of questions: how do we make sure we have the best evidence possible to identify if this is just a smell or something else entirely? What if we're not covering all potential angles? What about all the imperfections of market research? What if we create contradictions? What if... we kill a good idea?
And then came the results: the core idea was crushed. There was basically no appeal from consumers, and barely any good news to report.
You see the results, discuss, and share. You hold your breath and hope for the best. And then, faster than some would imagine... comes this sense of sobriety in everyone. Of seeing things as they really are, without the euphoria that drive dreams and progress (but also clouds risk). Sobriety that turns into serenity, relief. A sense of realism that brings you down, but also grounds you. And grounded you see better, have better ideas, become more confident.
And then... excitement. Pure joy! New discussions, ideas, thoughts being shared.. Why??
To the point I made earlier: it's a weird bag of mixed feelings. But I think Sir Dyson' message helps to clarify the feeling: it's all about the excitement of learning something new.
That's how a well designed and brave piece of consumer research did its job, in a relatively short time and with a good degree of confidence. By risking saying the obvious, never be afraid to defend evidence and data. There is a place for that, and then there is a place for test and learn in real life, which also has its pros and cons. Market research is not a hammer to destroy things, it's much more like a chef's knife. If mastered, will help you shape ideas into something beautiful, useful, that people will truly appreciate. Not to mention that it can also be really fun!
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