…is love. People with great ideas (and average ones too) are in love with the idea itself. Because we’re human, we become irrationally seduced by the potential of our own solutions. This blinds us to what matters most, to the thing that gives the idea the best chance to fly.

Being in love with the idea is what made the Segway falter. It’s also what made Blackberry fall into the abyss and saw Kodak flounder after decades of domination.

Of course you’ve got to believe in the product, service, or solution you’re creating. But what you need more than a love of your product, is love for your customer. You have to care about them to want to make something for them. And you have to understand them to care about them.

Understanding of the customer is why Apple’s packaging feels like a gift. It’s the reason Instagram became unstoppable and how Lululemon amassed a cult following.

Because when you innovate and build your business from a place of empathy and a desire to create difference for your customers it bubbles up into everything you do.

Image by Gillian Chicago.