How is your mousetrap better than the one I already have?

If you’re building a better mousetrap, it had better catch more mice.

Ultimately, the products we build have to provide value for our customers. This means that if we’re trying to build something better than what exists, it should represent a superior benefit to our customers.

When you’re selling to businesses the overriding factor is utility: does this mousetrap help me catch more mice, or not? Does your software help me to get more done, in less time? Does your service earn or save me money? These are factors that represent value to a business.

This should actually be encouraging for entrepreneurs targeting business customers: if you can solve a real problem, right now, you have a sale.

Let’s talk about building products for businesses

What concerns me in the enterprise space is the number of startups who are trying to sell new products like this:

Buy our mousetrap! It comes with built in speakers, and the ability to connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth.

Buy our mousetrap! It’s built with the same springs that NASA uses.

Buy our mousetrap! It’s red.

Decisions on engineering, design, colors, fonts, servers and databases must ultimately answer to this: does this product represent superior value to our customers?

As a Product Manager I’ve made this mistake before: I get excited about a new coat of paint, or a new widget that we’ve built. My product mentor, Gregg Oldring, has brought me back to earth a number of times by asking:

Is this new feature significantly more helpful to me as a customer?

Or put another way:

How is your mousetrap better than the one I already have?

That’s the question we need to answer.

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The answer is going to depend on the dad, but for me it comes down to two words: wrestling and romance.

Wrestling

My wife is an amazing and talented woman, but when it comes to wrestling with our 3 boys, I’m the clear winner. Early on, she tentatively decided to engage in a light-sabre battle with our oldest son. Clutching the plastic sword she cautiously said: “I’m ready.” Our son began by taking a swipe at her legs, which lowered her guard to block the attack. Seizing the opportunity, he went high and whacked her in the head before she knew what was going on.

So, in our house, roughhousing is my domain. Even better, research has show that wrestling with dad is good for kids: when I’m pinned to the ground, with one kid sitting on my head, I’m actually contributing positively to their development.

I take my position as the family Luchador very, very seriously. After one-too-many wrestling sessions ended with holes in the drywall, we constructed the “octagon” in our basement. We will literally spend hours of time in there, always 3-against-1, and won’t stop until we’re exhausted.

Romance

In addition to 3 boys, we have a beautiful daughter. She also happens to be our oldest. And while she will occasionally engage in a little roughousing, she prefers a completely different approach from me: romance. By this, I mean she likes being treated like a princess, going on dates, and having my undivided attention.

Essentially, as her dad, I can show her how a gentleman would treat her. When we go shopping together, we hold hands. She might pull a hat of the rack and model it to me. At a restaurant we get a nice seat at the window, sit across from each other, and I just listen.

I’m hoping that our dates can continue until she starts dating other boys (preferably when she turns 35). By that time, I’m hoping she’ll have a high standard for who she lets hold her hand.

The key to good fathering

These are two of my most vivid memories from my childhood: wrestling with my dad on the living room floor, and having my mom come and pick me up at school to take me out for lunch.

So for me, there are two keys to being a good dad: working with my wife in being the best parents we can be, and creating lasting memories with my kids.

“Hey kids, don’t bother daddy, I’m working.”

“But dad, you’re watching YouTube!”

It should be obvious, but we’ve all rationalized work activities that aren’t real work.  Furthermore, we get caught up doing too many maintenance tasks that don’t earn revenue. What we need to do, on a regular basis, is realign ourselves with work that provides value for our customers.

For me, it’s been helpful to sort my work into 4 categories:

1. Immediate work (keep existing customers happy)
2. Exploration work (learning, thinking and dreaming about improving your business)
3. Development work (create future happiness for customers)
4. Admin work (maintain the company)
5. Diversions (not real work)

Immediate Work

Normally, Immediate Work is about keeping existing customers happy. It includes things like answering phone calls, replying to emails, and fixing software bugs. It’s not always related to customer problems; sometimes it means sending a thank you note, or asking for feedback on your service.

The amount of time you spend in this zone depends on your role in the company, and the type of business you’re in. However, you may be able to offset some of this work by doing Development Work (for example: fixing a reoccurring bug permanently so that it no longer occurs).

Exploration Work

Two brilliant folks (Amy Hoy, and Mike Bridge) reminded me that Exploration Work is an important component of work. In fact, it’s what feeds our time in Development.

Exploration involves learning, dreaming and experimenting. It’s the kind of work that generates ideas.

We have to be careful: we can’t spend all of our time generating ideas.  As my colleague Mike says: “generating ideas happens in bursts.” Once we’ve had some time for inspiration, we need to stop, and filter our ideas. This is where we decide which ones we can put into development. Ideas become valuable only when they’ve been turned into projects. And the criteria for a project is clear: it brings in new revenue or preserves the revenue we already have.

Update: Jason Fried just tweeted a link to this image that relates to Exploration Work.

Development Work

This is the work that should result in new revenue, new customers, or substantially improving the happiness of existing customers. Like Immediate Work, these activities are correlated with revenue. Examples: developing new software features, taking a sales trip, or purchasing inventory. These activities form the main economic driver for your company: it’s what brings in the bacon.

If you’re managing your time well, the majority of your energy should be spent in this zone. It should be the goal of every team member to add value to the company in this area. It’s here that we plan, build and sell products that provide value for our customers.

Admin Work

Includes: doing your taxes, paperwork, and performing server maintenance. These activities don’t earn revenue. It’s just the regular overhead that comes with running a company.

Minimize the amount of time in this zone, but don’t neglect it. If you’re a business owner, you should definitely look at delegating as much of it as you can. (By the way: if your main role is doing these activities, you need to see your company as your customer. In this case, it’s no longer Admin Work but Development Work)

Diversions (not real work)

Let’s talk about the mindless activities we do at work: reading blog posts, scanning Twitter, watching YouTube, telling jokes, etc… We need to think of these “at-work diversions” like we think about dessert. Dessert is wonderful, but it has 3 important characteristics:

1. We only get it if we’ve finished dinner: get your real work done first, and then enjoy an at-work diversion.
2. It’s small: don’t make diversions the main course of your day.
3. If you overdo it, it’s unhealthy: having one latte a day is fine, but if you’re drinking 20, you’re going to get sick.

If we are eating more and more sweets throughout the day, it’s an indicator that something’s not right. It could be that we’ve simply become addicted to sugar. Maybe we’re not feeling well emotionally. When you eat sugar all day, it also loses it’s benefit of feeling like a treat: it’s no longer enjoyable.

That’s usually the key smell that I detect when I’m working on something I don’t really want to be working on. I check email much more frequently. I engage in chats much more frequently about things that aren’t related to the things I should be working on. On the flip side, when I’m working on something I’m really fired up about, I couldn’t care less about new posts on Twitter or whatever. I will work on getting whatever I’m working on done right now.

David Heinemeier Hansson

If you’re spending too much time in this zone it’s time for some introspection: is there a deeper issue you need to address? What needs to happen for you to get back on track, and doing real work? If you’re stuck in a rut, this could be a good time for a vacation, to change roles, or find a new job.

Let’s bring it all home

When you’re at work, are you really working? Are you developing new services or new features? Are you contacting new prospects? Are you keeping current customers happy? Are you increasing sales?

As workers, we should be able to draw a line between our current activity, and the bottom-line of the company. Likewise, we need to be able to prioritize our efforts so that they maximize customer happiness. Does a customer care if I’ve read everything in my Twitter stream? Or would they prefer it if I fixed that software bug they’ve submitted?

Despite what some people tell you, you do have to work hard. It doesn’t mean you have to work 15 hour days. But it does mean that when you do sit down to work, you need to really work. If you’re getting distracted every 5 minutes, you won’t get any work done. You really have to tune everything out, and just work. And you have to do that every single day.

Chris Nagele, Wildbit

And once you’ve finished your dinner, be sure to enjoy a little dessert.

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How do you attract 1000′s of paying customers? By having an amazing product: something that solves a problem, and makes life easier.

Building an amazing product is about being focused. Avoid multi-tasking. Sweat every single detail: your writing, your design, your terms of service – it all matters. Make sure it’s perfect. The entire team has to be focused on producing a great product.

Despite what some people tell you, you do have to work hard. It doesn’t mean you have to work 15 hour days. It does mean that when you do sit down to work, you need to put your head down and work. Get the fuck off of Twitter! If you’re getting distracted every 5 minutes, you won’t get any work done. You really have to tune everything out, and just work. And you have to do that every single day.

It’s not going from 0 to 1000 customers: instead it’s going from 0 to 2. And then 2 to 4. It’s slow. It’s steady. You need to patience. If you have something of value, people will pay money for it. Create something valuable, and people will pay you for it!

- Chris Nagele at his SuperConf talk, 2012

The design is done when the problem goes away.

- Jason Fried

I took both of these shots: the photo of 37signals was taken when I visited in 2010, and the picture at Zappos from my recent visit in early 2012.

My latest visit reminded me of Ryan Carson’s post that compared photos he’d seen from both offices. He wondered which approach was better, in terms of developing happy employees. Here are my thoughts, having spent an entire day at both companies.

Thought 1: a good workspace will reflect your core values

Both 37signals and Zappos have done a good job of publishing their core values. Here are a few:

You can see their values reflected in their workspaces: 37signals values working lean, focusing on the basics, and minimizing interruptions. Zappos celebrates fun, weirdness, having adventure and being open-minded.

Thought 2: having a strong culture is more important than having a nice office

Don’t mistake the forest for the trees. After visiting both 37signals and Zappos I can honestly say that they are both amazing companies. What makes them amazing is not their office design, but that they both have strong corporate cultures. These cultures are so strong that people outside these companies know their values. Both organizations could probably move into a rundown warehouse and be fine, because their values drive the business.

Where would you work?

I think your decision about which you would work at (37signals or Zappos) says something about you: do you like quiet, limitations and focus? 37signals puts a strong emphasis on those. Are you exuberant, social and a little wild? Zappos could be your cup of tea. There could also be a section of people, like myself, who could see themselves working at both places.

But it’s not the office design that we’d be responding to: it’s the presence of a strong culture. That’s the take-home. Great companies stand for something: they have a deeper purpose than making software, or selling shoes. People (both customers and potential employees) respond to culture.

Update: Feb 18, 2012

Jason Fried mentioned on Twitter:

Our office is a lot more lively these days than in those photos. Patina takes time.

See my photo galleries: 37signals and Zappos.

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“Cool wears off. Useful is forever.” – Jason Fried

Getting dropped off by Zappos shuttle

Today I toured the Zappos head office in Las Vegas. I had read Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness, and was eager to see the concepts he’s talked about in-person.

Wow. I am blown away.

Zappos.com is the world’s largest online shoe store, but they’re probably better known for their amazing corporate culture. During my tour, I was able to experience that culture first-hand.

Highlights

Strong values

Zappos has some very strong corporate values. They’re posted everywhere; I even found them in the bathroom. Unlike many corporate statements, the employees at Zappos are actually passionate about their core values. They can recite them off by heart. Even more important: I could see them living the values through their actions, and through the way they treated each other and their guests.

Positive people

I couldn’t find a negative person at Zappos: from the friendly guy who picked me up in the shuttle, to my tour guide, to the developer I spoke to afterwards, everyone was positive and upbeat. You can tell that they genuine enjoy their work. How are they getting all their people to be so gosh-darned nice? Well, it’s #7 on their values list: Build A Positive Team And Family Spirit.

Their office is a creative cornucopia

The office decorations at Zappos are insane! Every team is allowed to decorate their space the way they’d like. There is stuff everywhere: streamers hung from the ceiling, Christmas lights strewn over dividers, and handmade posters on the walls. I found it inspiring. Employees feel a freedom to express themselves, and actually enjoy being at the office.

It’s not a gimmick

Before my visit to Zappos I wondered if their company culture was just a gimmick used to attract new employees. But I’ve seen it in action: have a strong set of corporate values, and a strong goal (delivering happiness to customers) really works.

Photos

Photos from my tour of the Zappos HQ in Las Vegas, Nevada!

Years ago, Chris Rock and I were writing a shitty movie together. We were talking about comedians. We went to Mitch Hedberg’s site (this is before he died) and watched one of his Letterman sets. At the time, Chris and I were (and are) both wind-bag, stage-stalking, hammer a premise to the ground comics. We watched Mitch, who just fired beautiful fastballs one after the other. Joke joke joke. All solid. All amazing. Non-stop. Five minutes of it. We were in awe of it. Much respect to Mitch Hedberg.

- Louis CK