LEARN MODULE TRANSCRIPT
You may have developed a solution you think your customer will love, but you still need to test your idea to learn if it will work in a real-life setting.
“Successful failure” is about taking small risks early by testing your ideas and learning quickly with your customers.
Afraid to try something new? Don’t be! If your idea fails to meet your customers’ needs, use that earlylearning to help you adjust and test something different, or… stop altogether. Wouldn’t you rather this happen early in the process?
Imagine you overseean employee learning centerand are tasked with improving the experience for those who come for training.
You know from the past that food plays an important role, so you make a few assumptions about what your customers want.
In the past, you might have spent a lot of time researching popular healthy lunch items, designing a new menu, and creating a budget estimate.Perhaps months later, changes would be approved.
But that’s not the FastWorks Everyday way.
Before moving forward, test your ideas. Consider… what canyou learn right now? What about tomorrow? Or next week? You don’t need to have a perfect plan outlined – just enough to share what you’re thinking.
You decide to call a few students and walk around campus right away to share your ideas and ask questions. These quick conversations will help you learnhow to adjust your solutions.
Here is what you hear from the students:
Jose -I need sugar in the afternoon. It would be great if the vending machines were available – they have been locked!
Sarah –I enjoy being able to have some greasy food that I usually don’t eat! Not every day though -some healthy options would be great to include.
Amit–It’s nice to sit down at lunch. I love the French fries, but I’d like to see more variety and regional options.
Laura – Sometimes I’m too busy for lunch! I’d like a few ‘to go’ items in the cafeteria or afternoon snacks –not just vending machines.
What assumptions were proven true or untrue?
- Healthy Options: Employees want to eat healthy food all the time.
invalidated – sometimes, but not all the time
- On-the-go menu options: Some employees will not have a lot of time to eat.
(validated – this is an option that some employees would like)
- Vending machine items: People don’t like the options – it never gets empty!
(invalidated – they like the options, but the machines are not available when they need them)
- Employees prefer fruits & vegetables to candy & chocolates for snacks.
(needs further testing… employees do like the candy and chocolates, but not sure if they would also like these choices as other options)
- Employees don’t want as many fried foods – they’ll get tired!
(invalidated – some employees enjoy the greasy food options)
You were on the right track by thinking that something needed to change with the food. But, you’ve also learned that there’s no need to change the entire menu. Not all attendees prefer healthier items and, in fact, some suggested things you hadn’t considered.Good to know – now you can spend time working on what your customers told you wouldreally improve their experience.
Remember, customers determine your success. Come up with ways to quickly test your ideas and learn with them. You might not be right all the time – but, that’s okay. Be open to testing, failing and then adjusting… all to get to a winning solution.
QUICK TIPS
Listen to your customers’ suggestions and watch how they behave to make adjustments and get to a better solution.
Develop ways to quickly test your ideas. What can you do in the next one hour, one day, or one week?
Fail fast and fail early. If it works, great. If not, make adjustments and try again. Or, try something else.