Tales from the Road: Bias for Action

Tales from the Road: Bias for Action

Apr 18, 2023

Tales from the Road: Bias for Action

Something incredibly rewarding happened to me this month – I completed an elusive accomplishment that not many in my field have done. The one-week project. After getting a call from a client on Monday, I was on a plane by Friday, doing interviews Saturday, and report delivered Monday. But it gets better. The most rewarding part is that this client is taking immediate action based on our work and making changes which we will test again in just a few weeks.

As a consultant, there’s a great deal of pride and commitment that goes into the work. And every consultant’s career has ample examples of work they did with clients that ultimately stalled or radically changed direction before action could be taken. This is the exact opposite of that. We saw and diagnosed a need, and the client is diving head first into making things better. This client calls it “Bias for Action.” I call it “awesome.” 

One of the reasons I wanted to form Catapult with Jill was to be as nimble as we are capable in executing work for our clients, and the events of last week are the perfect illustration. It’s something that hasn’t been possible in the past when we worked at large research firms. We’ve likened those firms to cruise ships – they have tons of bells and whistles, but moving fast is not what they do. Now that I’m aboard a racy speed boat I can jump in with Bias for Action and make meaningful changes today, and that’s just awesome.

Justin Sutton

CO-FOUNDER
CATAPULT INSIGHTS

Bias for Action
Tales from the Road: Chasing a Memory  

Tales from the Road: Chasing a Memory  

Dec 8, 2022

Tales from the Road: Chasing a Memory  

Like many, I have been anxiously awaiting and keenly observing post-pandemic human behavior. Something I’ve been pondering is whether we’re returning to old norms, evolving into a “new normal,” or something in between. After a coast-to-coast trip conducting in-store interviews in central business districts of New York, Chicago, and Seattle, I think we’re most likely headed to that in-between existence.

Catapult Insights & Innovation

Anyone in those cities can tell you that crowds are on full display. Hybrid workers are reporting more and more in-office time and the result is the resurgence of a bustling city center. Fast casual and quick-serve restaurants (QSR) are reacclimating to these crowds and lines that stretch out the door as they did in 2019.

It’s interesting to note how QSR solutions that rapidly evolved during the pandemic with solutions like order-ahead apps and curbside pickup, appear to be in limited use today. As I ask myself, “Why are people waiting in these lines?”, I also find myself waiting in lines over ordering ahead to maximize the freshness of my food. The thought of my burrito sitting on a shelf for even 5 minutes takes away from what I experience with my first bite. But I think there’s more to it.

I believe there is a longing to return to a time in which people felt more empowered to make active choices. During the pandemic, many felt forced to alter their behaviors, adopting new tech-enabled experiences that brought new benefits but left people feeling less in control.

 

Across various projects with multiple QSR clients I’ve observed a romanticism of in-person experiences. They seem to miss it because they weren’t allowed to say goodbye on their terms. However, it seems that memories of pre-pandemic experiences have elevated to a point of unreasonable expectations. In research, this is why we aim to get as close as possible to moments of interest – memories can be unreliable. And as shoppers return, they seem more difficult to please than ever.

 

Are they truly remembering what those in-person experiences were like, or are their memories focused on positive aspects while omitting the painful bits? It’s no secret that the human mind is forgetful, possibly by design, so I wonder how much of their memories are selectively focused on the positive aspects because what they really miss is feeling in control.

Catapult Insights Shop Along Interview

The bottom line is that people may be chasing a memory of something that never truly existed, and this could have huge implications on consumer journeys. Shoppers seem to be consciously forfeiting benefits of tech-enabled experiences while also feeling unsatisfied with their preferred journey. They are feeling stuck in between their memories of how it used to be and the “new normal” setting up massive potential for disappointment unless brands really engage to understand customer needs entering 2023. Many of our clients are showing timely interest in studying their customer journeys and the conscious and subconscious needs people will encounter along the way. And those that aren’t probably will be soon.

 

Justin Sutton

CO-FOUNDER
CATAPULT INSIGHTS

Tales from the Road: Innovating into the Beyond

Tales from the Road: Innovating into the Beyond

Jul 11, 2022

Tales from the Road: Innovating into the Beyond

Last week the Catapult Team returned from a fantastic 2-day workshop with an automotive client. Through the years I’ve been fortunate to work alongside countless partners in innovation, and each has been a learning adventure. This one was no different – reinforcing a few key tenants of ideation.

This group was made up of extremely sharp, subject matter experts who brought deep knowledge of consumers, industry legislation, physics, and modern engineering. But, like many organizations, their challenge was shaking free of their own deep-rooted expertise to contemplate their potential to meet consumer needs of the future. So how do you break through the “now” and hit a target that will materialize tomorrow?

Tales from the Road: Innovating into the Beyond

One way is ensuring adequate time ideating against each opportunity. This allows close-in, incremental Ideas to surface, and what’s left is an empty space begging for more novel ideas to be born. The longer you spend focusing on a specific problem, the more likely those breakthrough ideas will emerge.

Another important component is gaining a circumspect view of possible, even likely, future realities. This can Involve diving into trends, measuring their trajectories, and examining the likely intersections within your industry. It’s important to move beyond what we know about the world today so we can give ourselves time to bring tomorrow’s solutions to life.

The last innovation tenant can be a surprising one for those who don’t spend their careers ideating. Long ago, we discovered an interesting phenomenon in which humans are more successful and prolific ideators when given specific boundaries. Blue-sky ideation, often referred to as “brainstorming,” generally results in scattered ideas that are typically iterative deviations of solutions that already exist. Think of it as a mining expedition in which we dig hundreds of shallow holes in search of treasure. Instead, we want everyone digging one, deep hole to gain synergies and hit paydirt. In practice, this goes beyond defining a problem to solve and delves into exclusionary exercises that prohibit certain realities of the world as it exists today.

In the end, our 2-day session was incredibly engaging, productive, and fun, and the next stop is likely a repeat performance for the client’s European division. Time to update my passport, which quietly expired during the pandemic.

 

Justin Sutton

CO-FOUNDER
CATAPULT INSIGHTS

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