And, your vision will improve only when you embrace this truth. We don’t see our blind spots – it’s why they’re called blind spots!

Too often, we fail to see our products and services from the perspective of our customers. We blindly embrace our stories, explanations, rationalizations and justifications to our own detriment. The end result is we’re blind-sided; resulting in setbacks and sometimes even failure. It’s painful.

A colleague recently told me about his first job experience after getting his MBA several years ago. He was hired by a big pharma company and his earliest assignment was to work on a drug for a erectile dysfunction (ED). The drug was being tested in various locations around the world. The pharma company also had other drugs in the pipeline (for diseases such as cancer). Management wanted to know where they should invest for the future. They asked him to do some primary market research and make recommendations.

This company’s ED drug was administered via injection directly into the you-know-what. (Men who are reading this are undoubtedly wincing and thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”) My colleague did his research with doctors around the world. The feedback was clear. Yes, the efficacy of the drug was flawless. But, after about six months, patients refused to continue administering the drug. My response: Duh!

The young businessman returned to his bosses and reported the research results. He also told them about a competitor who was launching another ED drug that could be taken as a pill. His bosses arrogantly responded,: “Yeah, we’ve heard about the pill. But, it’s effective only 75% of the time. Ours is always effective.”

So, what happened? They poured millions of dollars into the needle drug only to watch it fail miserably. Amazing, isn’t it. We wonder, “How could anyone be so blind?”

Too often our hubris proclaims, “I get it. Bring it on. Victory is ours.” Instead, we should be saying, “I don’t know. I need help. I will learn.”

Our blindness and lack of objectivity is most often our own doing and directly connected to our self-confidence. Yes, we need to believe in ourselves. Yes, we need to believe in our company. Yes, we need to believe in our products and services. But, in so doing, we can become vulnerable because we lose our ability to see our products, services, or company as customers and potential customers do. Believe me when I say there is no exception.

Here’s another example. Several years ago, a startup financial planning firm came to Blackstone asking for our marketing consulting help. They were located on the Southern Oregon coast – a spectacularly beautiful area with several federally-designated “wild and scenic” rivers. Many local businesses leveraged this beauty with names like Wild Rivers Pizza, Wild Rivers Realty, etc. Accordingly, this startup named its corporation “Wild Rivers Financial Planning.”

At our first meeting, I respectfully commented, “I assume potential customers will come to you looking for financial security – not a wild ride. If you want to grow beyond your local area, you need a name change.” They listened and learned. We renamed their firm Integrity Financial Planners.

The truth is we’re all partially blind. Some might claim to have perfect vision and objectivity. Don’t believe it. No one has it when looking inward. Yes, it’s important to have self-confidence. Yes, it helps us to move forward, to explore new territories, and to go after new opportunities.  

But, with our self-confidence we also need self-doubt. We need to embrace the idea “I might be wrong.” We need to question ourselves. Self-doubt causes us to pause, reflect, and think, “Perhaps I don’t really understand what the customer wants. Perhaps our strategy to grow in this market is not the best choice.” This self-doubt, this fear, may prove to be your salvation.

Only the Paranoid Survive – a book by Andy Grove, former chairman of Intel – is one of my favorite book titles. His honesty and absence of hubris gave permission for executives around the world to feel paranoid. Self-doubt and fear can actually be your friends and help you survive.

Are you partially blind? You bet you are. And, it’s okay because discovery, learning, and understanding begin when we say, “I don’t know. I need help. I will learn.”