"If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." Henry Ford
From Tom Kelly, The Ten Faces Of Innovation:
Ford had a point. Don't expect customers to help you envision the future. Make that mistake and you're likely to get lots of suggestions for faster horses.
Good companies still make a habit of listening to their customers. Just don't confuse that proven business practice with how you go about hunting up the next big breakthrough. That's not likely to come from asking people what needs improvement or fine-tuning. It's probably going to be something your customers hadn't even thought of.
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