The Curse of Knowldge

Sometimes we become so familiar with things, that we lose sight of what is happening right before our eyes. In their book "Made to Stick" Chip & Dan Heath refer to the "Curse of Knowledge", which states "Once we know something, we find it hard to imgine what it was like not to know it".

The Curse of Knowledge is why jewelry salespeople, once they have gained some experience, talk about diamond clarity, color and carat weight, instead of talking about the beauty of the jewelry or the occasion the buyer is celebrating.

I recently did some consulting for a luxury goods firm that has a wonderful legacy. Their story is so great and so powerful, it is a marketers dream. There are literally dozens of different ways to capitalize on their story. Unfortunately, they were so familiar with it, they assumed everyone knew it. The result was an average shopping experience that could have been happening anywhere.

The Curse of Knowledge perhaps explains why consulting can be so easy. When an outsider comes in to look at your organization, they see things that are obvious and easy to fix. When you are working day in and day out in the same space, you start to take everything for granted.

Here is a link to a test that may help you to look at your business in a new way:
http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Try to look at your business with new eyes; try to get inside your customers skin and see what they see when they walk into your stores. Your customers see what is obvious; do you?