What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

by Tina Seelig

I’ve experienced problem blindness myself. About fifteen years ago my husband, Mike, gave me a cell phone. This was long before cell phones were ubiquitous, and I had no idea I needed one. In fact, I got somewhat annoyed, thinking it was one more electronic gadget that would sit around unused. Mike urged me to try it for a week. It took me only two days to figure out I couldn’t live without it. I was commuting at least two hours each day and was able to catch up with friends and colleagues during the drive. I came back to Mike with sincere appreciation for the gift, and now always try to keep this story in mind when I look at new, potentially breakthrough, ideas.

The key to need finding is identifying and filling gaps—that is, gaps in the way people use products, gaps in the services available, and gaps in the stories they tell when interviewed about their behavior. I got a chance to talk with Michael Barry, an expert in need finding at Point Forward, and he told a terrific story about his work with Kimberly-Clark, the company that makes Kleenex®, Scott® paper towels, and Huggies® diapers. Essentially, Kimberly-Clark was disappointed with their diaper sales relative to diaper giants such as Procter & Gamble (makers of Pampers), and brought in Michael’s team to help figure out how they could improve their business. By making detailed observations on how diapers are sold, assessing the messaging on the diaper packages, and conducting interviews with parents, Michael realized that Kimberly-Clark was missing the point: they were selling diapers as though they were hazardous waste disposal devices. But parents don’t view them that way. To a parent, a diaper is a way to keep their children comfortable. Dealing with diapers is part of the nurturing process. A diaper is also viewed as a piece of clothing. These observations provided a great starting point for improving how Kimberly-Clark packaged and positioned Huggies. Then, upon closer scrutiny, Michael identified an even bigger opportunity. He noticed that parents become terribly embarrassed when asked if their child is “still in diapers.” Bingo! This was a huge pain point for parents a...

Venture capital firms that invest in early stage businesses pride themselves on identifying big problems and taking significant risks with the goal of tackling them.

As Randy Komisar, a partner at KPCB, notes, being entrepreneurial means seeing the world as opportunity rich. He and his colleagues have found that identifying and solving big problems leads to significant rewards for everyone involved.

Now that they were on a roll, Cooliris continued to break rules.

You might think it’s easier to challenge conventions and break rules as an individual or a small start-up firm, but you can also break the rules that get in the way from within a large company. I learned about the launch of Zune at Microsoft from a former student, Tricia Lee. This product, designed to compete with the Apple iPod, was on a tight development schedule. About halfway through the project, it was clear they weren’t going to meet their aggressive goals. The software wasn’t close to halfway complete, and on the current course—with the usual checks and balances, feedback loops, and bureaucracy—it was going to take much longer than expected to complete. To address this problem, one of the subgroups on the project isolated themselves from the rest of the team and worked intensely. They completed an essential piece of the software code, which got the project back on track, boosted moral, and allowed the product to be completed on time.

Rules are often meant to be broken. This idea is captured in the oft-used phrase “Don’t ask for permission, but beg for forgiveness.”

This new site, called “The Experience Project,” gained avid users quickly.

Moto strives to break the rules with each dish they serve, from “delivering” food that looks like packing peanuts to the table in FedEx boxes to making a dessert that looks like nachos but is really made up of chocolate, frozen shredded mango, and cheesecake.

I met with a dozen current and former students, and asked them to share their stories about breaking free from expectations. After listening to all their tales about getting around obstacles in school, in the workplace, and when traveling, Mike Rothenberg, who graduated two years ago, summarized all he heard by stating, “All the cool stuff happens when you do things that are not the automatic next step.”

Knowing that you can question the rules is terrifically empowering.

It is a reminder that the traditional path is only one option available to you. You can always follow a recipe, drive on the major thoroughfares, and walk in the footsteps of those before you. But there are boundless additional options to explore if you are willing to identify and challenge assumptions, and to break free of the expectations that you and others project onto you. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone, to have a healthy disregard for the impossible, and to turn well-worn ideas on their heads. As the students described above learned, it takes practice to do things that are not the “automatic next step.” The more you experiment, the more you see that the spectrum of options is much broader than imagined. The sole rule is that you are limited only by your energy and imagination.

twenty years ago when I told a friend I was going to write a book, she asked, “What makes you think you can write a book?” She couldn’t imagine taking on such a project without the blessing of someone in a position of greater authority. I, on the other hand, felt confident I could do it. The task was certainly ambitious, but why not try?

Over time, I’ve became increasingly aware that the world is divided into people who wait for others to give them permission to do the things they want to do and people who grant themselves permission.

Out of necessity and curiosity, I’ve done this again and again, constantly re-framing my skills to create new opportunities. When people ask me how a neuroscientist ended up teaching entrepreneurship to engineers, I have to say, “It’s a long story.”

When I was a freshman in college there was a fellow in my class who had a physical handicap that required him to use crutches to walk. One day he slipped walking down a ramp to class and fell to the ground. As he was struggling to get up, I didn’t know what to do. I felt uncomfortable walking by without helping, but I was afraid that if I approached him I would embarrass him by drawing attention to his disability. I felt the same way when a classmate lost his mother to a long illness. I didn’t know what to say, fearing I would say something wrong, and opted to say nothing. Years later, I was running on campus at Stanford. It had rained the day before and I fell hard in some mud. Bruised, hurt, and muddy, I sat on the curb with tears streaming down my face. At least a dozen people walked by, and not one asked me if I needed anything. At that exact moment I knew what I should have said to the fellow who fell in front of class years earlier and to my classmate who lost his mother. All I needed was someone to ask, “Are you all right? Is there anything I can do for you?” It now seems so simple. It’s remarkable that it took me so many years to figure out.

To summarize, with a little practice it’s easy to avoid obstacles and potholes that people often place in their own path. One of the best ways is to always show appreciation to those who help you. Keep a stack of thank-you notes on your desk and use them frequently. Also, never forget that the world is very small and you will likely bump into the same people time and time again. Protect and enhance your reputation—it’s your most valuable asset and should be guarded well. Learn how to apologize with a simple “I’m sorry.” Keep in mind that everything is negotiable and learn to navigate toward an outcome in which all parties win. Try to play to other’s strengths, making sure they’re doing what they do best. And do the right thing, as opposed to the smart thing, so you’ll be proud to tell your story later. Finally, don’t take on too much, lest you disappoint yourself and those who count on you.

give yourself permission to challenge assumptions, to look at the world with fresh eyes, to experiment, to fail, to plot your own course, and to test the limits of your abilities.

success is sweet but transient. When you’re in a position of influence, authority, and power, the benefits are wonderful. But once the position is gone, the perks evaporate. Your “power” comes from the position you hold. When you’re no longer in that position, all that goes with it quickly fades away. Therefore, you should not define yourself by your current position nor believe all your own press. Savor the spotlight when you have it, but be ready to yield center stage when it’s time to go. When you leave a job, the organization will go on without you, as you are not indispensable. Of course, you will leave a legacy of all you have accomplished, but that too fades with time.