"HUMAN DESIRES ARE FAIRLY CONSTANT - THEY DON’T CHANGE OFTEN."
30,000 years ago, humans needed to breath, eat, drink, sleep, stay safe, stay healthy, and have relationships.
30,000 years ago, humans needed to breathe, eat, drink, sleep, stay safe, stay healthy, and have relationships.
(Remember Maslow's pyramid? The hierarchy of needs.)
Yesterday, humans needed to breathe, eat, drink, sleep, stay safe, stay healthy, and have relationships.
Human desires are fairly constant - they don’t change often. Sure, “how” we fulfil these things changes, but the needs/desires don’t.
Humans are constantly scanning their environment for means to satisfy their needs. And if you don’t fulfil them, they’ll just move on.
Bezos-fy Your Strategy
Jeff Bezos focuses on strategies that transcend (sounds lofty and cool, right?). It’s revolutionary in its simplicity.
Instead of looking for what will change in the next X amount of years, he looks at what will stay the same:
"‘What's not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that… is actually… more important… -- because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time..."
Here are a few strategies that transcend:
1. Self-Discovery
I think you knew I was going here… 😉.
There will never be a time when knowing yourself better will hurt you. In fact, knowing who you are, what you’re about, what you envision for your life, and how you can make that impact is some of the best strategies you can create.
2. Communication
Learning to communicate your ideas and vision is critical.
Seth Godin once said every problem (for which there is a viable solution) is a marketing problem. Why? Because if you can’t convince people of the solution they’ll never accept it.
Good marketing is effectively communicating your change/idea/value/whatever. There will never be a time when people won’t need effective communication.
3. Connection
We are tribal by nature. We instinctively join ourselves to people/ideas/outcomes we believe in. It’s a fundamental human need (see Maslow).
Creating a strategy that prioritizes human connection will make your strategy timeless - granted, the tactics will change.
4. Creativity
This one is a bit touchy because “creativity” is misunderstood.
Let me break it down: creativity is problem-solving, nothing less, nothing more. Movies, for example, are creative because they solve the problem of entertainment - we want to be entertained. (They also connect emotionally - and we love connection!) But so are oven mitts because they overcome the problem of hands burning!
Investing in problem-solving is a long-term strategy because people will definitely have problems tomorrow…
Making a lasting impact doesn’t always require trend and nuance. Some of the most impacting things are the most basic.
Prioritizing these long-term human needs in your strategy will make you more robust - and, surprisingly, more innovative!
For a deeper discussion on transcendent strategies, see my conversation with David Sanders on IGTV.