“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” – Henry Ford Yes, that quote is overused, cliched, and often misused to justify not doing customer research (also it's likely he never even said that). Despite all of those things, I think the intention behind this quote is 100% correct. I don’t mean to say we shouldn’t listen to our customers, just that we should be more nuanced when we do.In 2020, I had my largest product launch. I did more market research than I’d ever done before, 3rd party surveys, internal customer surveys, user interviews, beta testing, collateral reviews with beta testers, you name it, I probably did it. I was completely confident I was giving my customers exactly what they asked for…and it was a complete failure. I gave them what they wanted, but not what they needed.What I learned from this experience is that to succeed in product management, you can’t just listen to what customers say, you have to understand what they are trying to do and help them get there. In the maybe real/maybe fictional Ford quote, the customer may say they want a faster horse, but getting from one point to another faster is what they want. The solution might be a better horse, or it could be something they didn't consider like a car, train, or personal teleporter (someday 🤞🤞).That long-winded story sums up my philosophy as a product manager/director. I have been designing, launching, and supporting products since before the iPhone was a thing (another product people didn’t know they wanted). I bring a customer-focused approach to product management and strive to launch the next great product that no one knows they need yet.SkillsProduct Management: Product Roadmaps | New Product Development | Product Lifecycle ManagementMarketing: Personas | Value Propositions | Digital Campaigns | Lead GenerationMarket Research and Insights: User Interviews | Surveys | Market Sizing | Segmentation Financial: Pricing Strategy | ROI Analysis | NPV Calculation | Sales Forecasting