Case studies of successful companies are hard to adopt but easy to spread
Case studies of successful companies are hard to adopt but easy to spread
Can everyone relate to this title?
Actually, case studies of successful companies are rarely directly useful to most people. Nevertheless, their power to spread is extremely strong, and as a result, they can end up spreading misunderstandings Why is that?
I will summarize it. This is an essay.
Why are they easy to spread?
As a universally common phenomenon, success stories of specific business models or services often take on a life of their own, detached from their original context, leading to confusion There is a structural reason for this.
Successful companies have an incentive to actively disseminate information for recruitment and business expansion. Therefore, many success stories emerge. And because success stories have the backing of actual success, the cases themselves look very attractive. However, in the process of these stories spreading, the crucial premises are lost, and only
power words take on a life of their own.
Why are they hard to adopt?
Why are case studies of successful companies not directly useful to most people?
There are various reasons, but a major one is that
the approaches of successful companies are built upon the various margins that come with being successful The causal relationship is reversed.
They didn't succeed because they did something eccentric; they can do eccentric things because they succeeded 'Eccentric' is not a disparagement. Rather, it is a great challenge, and there is trial and error that is only possible because they succeeded. That challenge may lead to the improvement of the entire industry. However, even if you use that experience as is, it will not work in most patterns.
As an example: 'It is not good for product teams to chase business KPIs'
For example, 'It is not good for product teams to chase business KPIs' is a common statement.
This is the result of emphasizing only the symbolic words that represent a part of the whole, while the context before and after is cut away.
I will dare to supplement the omitted context.
If users are increasing but there is a clear flaw due to UX, the product team should focus solely on improving the experience without chasing business KPIs. At that timing, that results in maximizing the outcome. Therefore, the statement 'It is not good for product teams to chase business KPIs' holds true at that specific moment.
Especially, the more counter-intuitive a statement seems, the more catchily it tends to be received
The point is that users are increasing.
It would be even better if users are increasing but dropping off due to UX. It would be a perfect hand if top-line growth is being evaluated and you can raise funds aggressively.
Why is it not criticized?
The situation where some power words are rampant like this must look bitter to so-called seniors. The causality is all mixed up. However, there is almost no merit for a senior to criticize it openly. There are only disadvantages.
If you try to deny a success story, there is a risk of:
- Directly criticizing someone
- Being seen as having old-fashioned thinking
- Being treated as an 'old fogey' who hinders new movements
As a result, there is a structure where it is difficult for a deterrent to work against misunderstandings spreading while remaining misunderstood.
If a junior on my team superficially cites a success story from another company, I will rebuke them. I will rebuke them, but I have a bitter feeling that I have to be careful about the way I rebuke even on my own team.
Many premises behind 'success'
Behind 'success', a great many preconditions are hidden. The success of a specific service is also built upon countless premises, such as the needs of the era when the service was born, the initial user base, the competitive situation, and the corporate efforts they have accumulated up to that point.
However, because information is cut out and spread in fragments, we tend to look only at the 'results' of that success. And we may harbor the mistaken belief that 'my team can succeed if we do the same thing.' This is repeated for every success story of each era.
Sometimes it might be a toC platform service, and other times it might be a toB SaaS.
It's the 'everyone can't fight the same way' thing.
What you need to think about as a product manager is, 'Did that company really win because of the power of the product?' 'Even if it was the power of the product, is it a phase where you can do the same thing?' 'How much did the product contribute?'
If you don't think about these things thoroughly before adopting them, you might end up with incoherent responses.
Is the world overflowing with hard-to-adopt case studies from successful companies?
That's right. So, is the information in the world useless? That's not the case at all.
You just need to extract and use the useful essence.
What is truly important is to look at the often-overlooked preconditions behind superficial success stories. Why was that company able to succeed, what kind of challenges did they overcome, and does that success really apply to our situation?
Think, anyway. Think thoroughly about under what conditions it would apply.
If you acquire this habit of thinking and the ability to abstract and extract, you can extract methods effective for your own challenges from all kinds of case studies in the world.
How can you acquire that?
The hand I have is a bad-natured method of 'always be skeptical.'
Basically, when I hear something, I'm always thinking, 'Hmm, is that really true?' Sorry. But it's the accumulation of things like that.
The moment you feel a little uncomfortable is extremely good for brain training
The moment you feel a slight sense of discomfort is incredibly good for mental gymnastics. I want you to cherish that slight sense of discomfort.
It is true that nothing that spreads throughout the world is completely absurd. There is some reason why that information is spreading. Why is that? Trying to infer and investigate the background information leads to an update of your values.
There are countless aspects of the world that you cannot see.
Follow the royal road without trying to be eccentric.
The stance that if I do this much and it doesn't work, then it's impossible.
The challenge you are working on. The answer you derived by analyzing and breaking down the current situation is correct. Let's move forward honestly. That is the royal road.