Appearance vs Personality

Appearance vs Personality

When we meet someone for the first time, people often talk about the fact that appearance is everything. That how you look on the outside or how you treat people will tell them what type of person you really are.

But is that really true in terms of organization, should organization focus on customers or what they offer to their customers?

As an organization how do you answer the question of, who is more important. Your workforce or you customers?

The BIG QUESTION Inside-out approach or the outside- in approach which one is the best?

The outside-In approach

"Starts with understanding the difference between what you make and what people need Tapping your resources of energy and imagination, you look at your company from the perspective of your once and future customers, exploring what's going on in the real world.

Organisation who embrace this approach? Dell Computers

Organisation who embrace this approach are totally immersed in the minds of their customers, they always looking for ways to expand demand. Their business plans and value propositions derive from the marketplace, based on the knowledge gathered at ground level. Often, the needs they define haven't yet been identified by the customer’s themselves out?

This approach starts with what one first possesses before looking at anything else. It raises questions such as what one’s organization has in terms of core competencies, talent, resources, customer relationships and (distribution) networks and how these could be leveraged.

Most organisations who use this approach believe that when you do what you love, you will become good at it and it will make you successful just because of that. Therefore that’s why organisations embrace an Inside-Out approach to business and stay close to what you do best.

Typically, an outside-in organisation questions itself on the following:

• Where are the growth markets available for our business?

• How can we tap into an opportunity that is available?

Inside –out approach

This approach is often referred to as the golden circle marketing method

Traditional methods start asking themselves WHAT, then followed by HOW and ENDING with WHY

Organisations who embrace this approach? Apple

The Inside-out approach starts with WHY: the central belief of WHY the organisation exists.

Inside-Out companies such as Apple say that they do not ask their customers what they want, do have a very good sense of what we call Customer Instinct.

Most believe part of their success as they are able to combine their Inside-Out strategy with a good understanding of their customers’ needs, challenges and lifestyles.

But the BIG PROBLEM with the inside-out approach is the fact that most organisation that embrace this approach, they don’t have a sense of Customer Instinct

Henry Ford that said “if I would ask people what they want they would come back to me with a faster horse.” The horse is people’s reference point what makes the answer very logical and therefore not very innovative.

So does it mean that you cannot get good insights by talking to customers? Well, it means you cannot just ask customers directly what they want as most people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. It means you need to do things in a different and more creative way through.

Typically, an inside-out organization asks itself questions such as the following:

• How have we progressed or regressed over the last few years?

• What are we good at? What do we love to do? What are we passionate about? What do we represent? WHY, WHY,and WHY (as you need to understand what beliefs lie underneath to really grasp the company’s essentials)

So what is the better strategy?

Most organisations will fall somewhere in between the inside-out and outside-in thinking.

The best organisations skilfully employ both approaches. They are mindful of where their strengths and gaps are while using their organisational “radars” to detect opportunities or threats. Such organisations know that the most effective business strategies need to consider both internal practicalities and external shifts loosely coupled