Words
A loaf of sourdough bread, a bag of mixed nuts, a bottle of kombucha and some raisins. These are the items that compromised my most recent transaction.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of the commercial activity that I partake is quite mundane, usually utilities for basic survival. While this is true for the majority of my purchases, it is not true for all of them. There have been times that I have "consumed" films or books that have impacted and influenced my life far beyond survival, far beyond basic needs.
Certainly, there are many flaws to the couple of examples I provided above, but it touches on a larger qualm that I have with the current state of commercial activity, specifically as it relates to tech enabled services.
A simple audit of my bank card statement relative to my emotional well being reveals that the purchases that I make and the products that I use do not materially improve my well being. Of course, you can make the point that it is not the function of products and services to improve our emotional well being, to which I would say why the fuck not?
Maslow
Many products are predicated on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We need food, water, shelter, electricity. This makes a lot of sense - these products should make up large swaths of the global economy and by extension large portions of individual income statements.
But what about the higher parts of the hierarchy? Certainly, a case can be made that products like Instagram, Facebook, Soho House and other community based products adequately address the psychological needs of Love & Belonging. We could make the argument that educational brands and online learning serve the purpose of "Prestige and a feeling of accomplishment". But maybe not, take an honest look around, I would be highly skeptical that almost any products that have reached sufficient scale go beyond our "Safety" and "Physiological" needs. Perhaps Apple would be the only candidate.
On Product
The problem that I see today on the product landscape is that these tools do not really serve our higher aspects of being human. I guess the question then becomes, should they? is that a responsibility they should have? To me, the answer is a resounding "yes!". Whats the point of building products that simply exploit our fundamental neurochemical processes instead of helping us thrive or enabling us to flourish?
Luxury Software Products
Purposefully, I have not yet addressed the highest rung of Maslow’s hierarchy, Self actualization. A psychological concept that seeks to describe our highest nature. I particularly like psychologist Carl Rogers' definition:
"the curative force in psychotherapy – man's tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities ... to express and activate all the capacities of the organism."
Why can't software products help us reach our highest potential?
If you take a look at the worlds wealthiest families, you will see that a surprising amount of the fortunes that have been amassed have been in the category of "luxury". A stark contrast to the others which you could put in the category of "fundamental needs" (Real estate, utilities, wal mart ...)
What does that have to do with self actualization? I think this motivation has been for us to signal emotional well being and flourishing has been persistent in the past via consumption of status seeking goods. Luxury cars, clothes, etc to give off the impression that everything is psychologically and emotionally sound.
I don't see luxury products being the same in the future, as they have been in the past. Even currently, the idea of luxury is shifting to more tech enabled products.
I have an intuition that the future of software products could be a new take on luxury, albeit with a new definition. Luxury defined as products that help us reach our highest potential, products that truly help us reach our potential. Imagine a world where our phones actually connect us together, apps that prompt us to think deeper, and websites that help us have more empathy.
Listen
Podcasts I enjoyed this week:
Mike Maples on Origins Podcast: A nice look inside the mind of a curious mind.
“The Slack DPO” on Acquired FM: Nuts and bolts on everything Slack and Stewart Butterfield.
Dennis Crowley of FourSquare on Recode Decode: Great products don’t always make great businesses.
Learn
One thing I learned this week: (mmm maybe more than one thing)
Empirical vs Emotional magic moments.
I have a feeling this will be a post all on its own. Right now the seed of this thought is that we often tend to conflate emotional magic moment with empirical ones. Why? it easy to measure but when building products I am almost certain that you always have to start with the emotion.
It’s all about getting in the flow.
I have been doing a lot of hot yoga and it has taught me about discomfort. It seems like discomfort is a necessary pre cursor to complete immersion, play and flow. Once you reach a tipping point of discomfort it seems anything can be immensely joyful and fun. How does that make sense?
When should you invest? When your money has competitive advantage!
This is another way of saying why is your wisdom greater than the wisdom of the crowd?
Notes from a great book or podcast
Where do good ideas come from? This book is mind blowing! I read it years ago and it is a shame that I have not gone back to it. It explores the network like signature that all innovation has. Perhaps this is one of the best books on product! Here is a quote:
The quickest path to innovation lies in making novel connections. This strategy of switching back and forth between asexual and sexual reproduction goes by the name ‘heterogamy’ and while it is unusual, many different organisms have adopted it. When nature finds itself in need of new ideas, it strives to connect, not protect.