[Sigia-l] Friday quiz

[Listera]

Andrew Boyd:

> Seth Godin said a lot about the danger of following the herd in "Purple
> Cow". The iMac and iPod are great Purple Cow examples.

Whenever I take on a new client for a substantial project, there are several
(by now pretty well known and repeated) "hurdles". One of them is the
"competitive analysis" as one of the first "deliverables" that less
perceptive clients request/demand. Some even have elaborate "competitive
features matrix" forms and so on. Once you see one of those, you know you're
in a bit of trouble. :-)

I tend not to look at client's legacy products, competition, requirements,
etc., before I get to spend a good bit of time trying to understand and/or
(re)formulate their product strategy/positioning. Some clients just don't
have that kind of patience and discipline and can often mistake my steadfast
refusal to consider existing stuff as not having a rigorous "methodology".

This educational phase is often the hardest part of consulting: getting
clients to understand that their own strategy should not be defined by their
competitors' and that playing by others' rules is a sure way to handicap
yourself out of the game. So I keep repeating, "What do *you* want to do?"
:-)

---- 
Ziya

Best Practices,
For when you've run out of your own ideas and context.