The Practical Innovator's Guide to Customer-Centric Growth

The Practical Innovator's Guide to Customer-Centric Growth

What is Your Pain? And other Intelligent Questions (Part 2)

Mike Boysen's avatar
Mike Boysen
Mar 15, 2016
∙ Paid

Part 1

Hypothesis: Customer needs are constants, not variables. The only variable is the perception of value as new products, services, or methods emerge. We all still need to consume nutrients to survive.

If asked, how would you describe perfection? What is the perfect vacation? Can you name every attribute that describes it? Or, would you be tempted to highlight only the positives or negatives that are top of mind from your last vacation? If I asked you how to improve your next vacation, you would likely only focus on your pain. As a result, you may find that many of your broader expectations fall short; due to your narrow focus.

If we begin to look at life as a system of processes, we can break each of them down into steps. If we frame the steps around accomplishments instead of activities, they probably won’t change much over time. Therefore, we can also assume that our needs for each of these steps will also not change much over time. What will change is the way we evaluate them ove…

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Mike Boysen.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2026 Michael A. Boysen · Publisher Privacy ∙ Publisher Terms
Substack · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture