Is the ‘Streetlight Effect’ Keeping You From Success?

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, “Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen. Few in pursuit of the goal.”

Today we might say, “Many are stubborn in pursuit of followers and likes. Few in pursuit of the goal.” Gaining followers and likes on Twitter or Facebook may be a path to success for some, but it is not a worthy goal in and of itself.

I recently had an opportunity to talk with a consultant who is ranked No. 1 on Twitter in her field. She tweets more than 100 times per day — seriously. As incredibly time-consuming as that must be, I have no problem with it if it is yielding her desired results. But she honestly admitted she cannot identify any increase in consulting revenue as a result. Ugh.

I’m sure there are other intangible benefits from attaining a vast following, such as increased awareness and perhaps increased credibility. But if tweeting 100 times per day is not generating revenue, why bother? People often confuse the path with the goal. Maybe it’s time for her to reassess the effectiveness of her path.

We all are tempted to do the easy thing in front of us rather than the hard thing that really matters. Consider the streetlight effect, which is “a type of observational bias where people only look for whatever they are searching for by looking where it is easiest.” The name is taken from an old joke that has been appearing in one form or another in the U.S. since 1924, and in other places even earlier:

“A drunkard is seen searching under a streetlight for his house key, which he dropped some distance away. When asked why he isn’t looking where he dropped it, he replied ‘It’s lighter here!'”

Some other examples of the streetlight effect :

• Hiring or developing sales training before determining why sales are flat
• Brainstorming ideas before defining the problem
• Launching minimally viable products before identifying what customers are trying to accomplish

The temptation to do the easy thing rather than the important thing can ruin us if we don’t:

1. Develop the skill to notice we have a choice.
2. Have the courage to address the important thing even when it is confusing and hard.
3. Have the knowledge and skill to develop a plan of action that will work.
4. Keep the important thing and next steps top of mind, and act on them regularly.

When it comes to innovation and growth, many companies fall down on point No. 3: They lack the knowledge and skill to develop an effective plan to uncover their target customers’ unmet needs. As a result, they default to generating ideas and minimally viable products with the hope that one out of 10 will generate some interest.

Companies that have the knowledge and skill to identify their target customers’ unmet needs use those needs to generate winning ideas and develop winning new offerings. Of course, there is still the challenge of how to generate a good solution to address the customers’ unmet needs, but now the solution team will know what customers are trying to accomplish and how they measure success. This dramatically increases innovation success rates.

Companies that acquire this knowledge and skill are dramatically more successful because they develop solutions that they know in advance customers will want. It is no longer necessary for any company to putter around under the streetlight, generating ideas to see which ones stick.

(This article first appeared in The Business Journals, January 15, 2016).