Who remembers the rise and fall of Juicero? This Silicon Valley startup, which raised over €120 million to revolutionize the world of juice drinking, developed a $400 juicer that squeezes specially prepared fruit and vegetable bags. A YouTube video soon revealed that squeezing these bags by hand worked even better. The ridicule was huge and the end of the company was sealed. This example clearly shows how easy it is to lose touch with customer needs.

A warning that applies not only to start-ups, but also to established companies. The larger a company is, the greater the risk that the needs of internal and external customers are so compartmentalized by the large number of departments that energy and time are invested in things that nobody needs.

Fredmund Malik once warned of the fine line between technical expertise and arrogance. This not only manifests itself in an overemphasis on one's own solutions, but also in an ignorance of the needs of the market.

In large organizations where specialization prevails, it is essential that every employee understands not only their direct contribution to the end product, but also how this contribution meets the needs of all customers - external and internal.

To avoid "silo thinking", you need a culture that thinks and acts beyond the boundaries of specialist departments. Simply proclaiming "customer centricity" may sound great, but it is often ineffective. So how does it work?

One idea is to repeat internships or stations at regular intervals, as trainees typically do. This teaches them how a company works as a whole. Why should this be a one-off rather than a recurring "event", even for long-serving specialists and managers?


Through regular learning cycles, companies could ensure that their employees always keep the customer's perspective in mind. This not only promotes an understanding of customer needs, but also the development of a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability. Such a culture of learning and customer orientation is the key to sustainable success, so that mistakes like the one at Juicero do not occur in the first place.

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