The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?

by Seth Godin

Author Michael Schrage wants you to ask, “Who do you want your customers to become?” At first this seems like a ridiculous question. Your customers are your customers. Your coworkers are your coworkers. This isn’t true. Connection creates change. Unless you are selling a standard commodity, the interactions you have with the market change the market. Zappos turned its customers into people who demand a higher level of service to be satisfied. Amazon turned its customers into people who are restless with online stores that don’t work quite as well or quite as quickly. Henry Ford turned his customers from walkers into drivers. When you disappoint someone (or exceed their expectations), that interaction is going to color all the interactions that person has tomorrow and next year. Apple is talked about more than any other company for one simple reason: They have huge aspirations for who they want their customers to become, and they deliver on them. Who will your customers become after they interact with you? Who will you become as a result? The industrialist doesn’t think a lot about interactions or change. He focuses on filling today’s need at the highest yield. The artist, though, is obsessed with connection and thus change. You are not the same person you were a year ago. Are you more cynical? More skilled? Who have you become?