Technology Adoption – You are the challenge

I have written about multiple challenges in the adoption of a technology product or service from the marketplace.

However in a lot of cases its product management team who are the challenge. This happens when they are so much in love with the product that they don’t see the signals that the market is sending.

Or a lot of times we get blinded by our ego and don’t see the changes that the market is undergoing. This is very critical in the technology space because there so many changes happening simultaneously in different layers of the fabric.

A typical case is that the cloud is bringing even high end computing in a consumption model and driving costs low.

Now someone with a unique idea can test a high end application at almost no cost from his home and release it in the market while your company has spent so many man-months.

If you think that no one will look at the application from the individual only because your company has a big money or brand, then you are letting your ego come in the way.

If you don’t have the humility to accept that the market decides what it likes then you are going to be shocked a lot.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Technology Adaption – the next challenge

Habits, Human Brain, mindset, Product Management, Technology

For product management in a technology company, the big challenge after identifying a single niche then targeting it, is the adaption of the technology.

Most technology based products are integration of existing resources. Very rarely are they designed from scratch for every component.

If by chance your product is designed from scratch then this problem is even more acute for you.

If the end user of your technology is not able to adapt your product easily as in 2-3 steps then even the most technologically superior product will be sent the grave. The human brain does not like change and therefore people resist any kind of new products. This is the biggest blockage for new technologies.

Look at Instagram or WhatsApp, such easy to use apps, therefore the adoption is in millions. It does not mean that the product is simple. I am sure the complexity is enormous, but they have kept it hidden from the customer. The user experience is very elegant and easy to use

Similarly the Iridium satellite phones, with the best pedigree and the ability to connect you from wherever you are in the world, bombed.

When doing product management of technology based products, you need to keep in mind if the existing infrastructure willsupport your technology. How much will the user have to unlearn to use your technology. What can be the simple things you can do to increase adoption.

This is a very complex subject so we will cover over multiple posts.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Peaks and Valleys Part 2

arrogance, ego, Karma, mindset, Turn around

Continuing on what I was talking about yesterday, my belief is that circumstances are never going to be perfect all the time. Tides change all the time, so does every person’s luck.

I do believe that luck does play a very important role in every one’s life. Which also means that you can’t be lucky all the time.

However I also believe in Karma. So if you have a positive balance in your karmic account then even during your not so lucky days, you can get quite a positive outcome.

The other thing which I mentioned yesterday also is the ego of the person. Generally ego is all about me and mine. Everyone will give you that explanation. My belief is that ego is when we acquire a fixed mindset or as Carol Dweck talks in her book Mindset, its not a mindset which is willing to learn.

Learning and ego generally can’t go together in my opinion. To be able to learn, you have to be willing to have humility to accept that someone else knows more than you. You also need to have your mind open, if you want to learn anything. Generally people with a large ego don’t have an open mind.

By its very nature your next peak will happen when you cross the valley and start your climb towards the peak. The moment you start your climb, if you are not going to be adapting for the unknowns, you won’t be able to reach the peak.

Effectively while luck will play a role in your progress, if you prepare while the tide is turning and keep your ego aside, then your chances of reaching the next peak faster are very high.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Ego, learning mindset

Customer segmentation by usage – consumer example

differentiation, Marketing, mindset, Positioning, Product Management, Sales, segmentation

Yesterday we spoke about a specific usage scenario can create a niche for doing DR for ERP users in states where hurricanes are common.

Lets look at how on the consumer side you could use the same concept.

There are a lot of dry cleaners in every city. If you were to segment by just the demographics you may not be able to come up with a uniquely different niche.

But suppose, your demographic data threw up a lot of families with kids and you were to target parents of kids who play sports.

You create your operation in such a way that you can turn around a dry clean in less than 6 hours.

When my son was school going, there were so many times I wished if we had a dry cleaner who could get the blazer cleaned within a few hours.

Now if you can message to these parents about how you can get their sports stains completely removed within 6 hours, then you could remove one of the major hassles.

For doing this service you could be charging a premium. Once you have made the customer you could still offer the normal dry cleaning as well for all types of clothes but you will create the perception of being a specialist.

Where this strategy could fail is if there aren’t enough school going kids in the neighborhood or if someone is already giving 6 hour dry cleaning for all clothes at all times.

Marketing at the end of the day is also knowing about what your direct competitors are doing as well as what are the other methods for the customer to achieve the same outcome.

As I write these things, I also sometimes get a better understanding of how to solve a problem I am facing. As Joe Polish says – and I am paraphrasing it – the best way to learn anything, is when you are able to teach someone about it.

Till next time.

Carpe Diem!!!