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Thorough knowledge of the scene of action is an absolute requirement. |
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If you were fishing in the Southwest some years ago, you might have been approached by two Orientals in a pickup truck offering to clean your rod and reel. They would ask questions about your preferences in fishing equipment. Today, the Japanese are major factors in this market. |
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Your market is those whom you must persuade to buy your product, service, or idea. The admonition to know your market may seem too basic. However, it is the basics we so often miss. To know your "market," you must listen to your "customers." To listen effectively, you must ask questions to probe for information. |
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The big question is: "What do we need to know to make the required decision?" If we do not know what we need to know, then everything looks like important information. It becomes impossible to sort the useless from the useful. |
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Often, we are told what someone thinks we want to hear. Just as often, our bias from prior knowledge keeps us from finding the truth. That is why time must be spent in the "market" finding out what's going on so we know what questions to ask. When we ask the wrong questions, the answers don't make any difference. |
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Napoleon used both his regular army intelligence system and a focused intelligence telescope of select senior officers to gather information. Senior officers were given wide latitude to report on "anything that might interest me." Junior officers in his regular system were sent on more specific missions. He deliberately kept his telescope staff small in order to establish personal contact with these messengers. The personal contact helped him evaluate the information he received. |
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This focused telescope overcomes the common problem of intelligence bureaucracies. Too often, information that gets to the senior commanders is filtered through the chain of command and becomes less and less specific. The result is overgeneralization of information; consequently, those in command know the least about what is really happening. The manager's solution to interpreting how to use data is always to spend time with the customer. |
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