Bitchin' Ain't Switchin'
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
Your kid has declared war on broccoli every single night. They still eat it. They're not switching.
Bob Moesta has a blunt phrase for customer research: 'Bitchin' ain't switchin'.' At Basecamp, everyone demanded Gantt charts. 'If you don't add Gantt charts, I'm leaving!' They didn't leave.
Your kid HATES the car seat. Every. Single. Time. With the passion of a thousand suns. And yet - they get in. They complain about bath time like you're inflicting medieval torture, and then they don't want to get OUT.
The complaints are real. The switching isn't happening.
The reverse is where it gets interesting. Sometimes kids don't complain about something, but they're quietly struggling. They won't mention the kid who's mean at lunch, but suddenly they 'don't feel well' every school morning.
Watch what they do, not just what they say. And pay attention to the complaints they're NOT making - those might be the ones that actually matter.
PM Theme: Customer feedback / signal vs noise
Parenting Theme: Interpreting what children really need
“Bitchin' ain't switchin'. Just because people bitch about something doesn't mean they're going to do anything about it.”Bob Moesta · 00:36:43
“At Basecamp, we learned the fact that everybody said, 'Oh, if you had Gantt charts, I'm going to leave you if you don't put Gantt charts in,' and as much as they all say they want it, they're not leaving because of it.”Bob Moesta · 00:37:23
