Making Someone's Life Better

[put pocket video, running time 2:51]

Yesterday, after my run at the park I was listening to NPR and came across a piece of interesting news. TalkTalk launched what they call PutPocketing - the art of putting money INTO people's pockets without them realizing, using real ex-pickpockets. Which is something that might make a few individuals uneasy, but that definitely makes people talk.

I like the idea of turning a skill used for personal gain into collective benefit. Just like the hacks who decide to work with the good guys to help hold the world wide web together. 

Which is a hard lesson to take for businesses used to thinking in term of profit and bottom line - and the more they tighten their first around that, the more both will be elusive. The truth is that your customers don't care about your strategy. As Monica Harrington noted [hat tip Kris Hoet]:

Consumers don’t care about strategy. Corporate customers do because if they’re investing big dollars over many years in a product, they want to know that it will continue to evolve in ways that are beneficial to the organization. In the corporate market, selling a vision is huge. By contrast, selling a vision to consumers is pointless. The key question they want answered is, "Does it make my life better today?"

Today, consumers have become customers - each with a unique relationship with your product or service. And they don't go for pickpocketing, but might for put-pocketing if what you put in their hands has value to them. Think about it, you probably didn't cut that expense of a company and service that made your life better, did you?

Today at Fast Company expert blog we talk about failure as a necessary ingredient for innovation.