Finding the Customer's Reset Button

Innovation doesn’t fail because we run out of ideas. It fails because people run out of patience.

After years of obsessing over our product or service—sweating every nuance and perfecting every detail—we launch it, expecting the world to applaud.

And then…nothing.

Call it a classic case of naval gazing.

Too many companies get so wrapped up in their internal process and sprints to launch something, they forget what day-to-day life is like for their customers.

Such as the product promises made by vendors. The hyped up marketing. It all builds scar tissue.

It’s not that your innovation isn’t good. It’s that your audience isn’t in the right mindset to care. They’re busy. They’ve heard it all before. Their mental reflex isn’t to embrace innovation—it’s to dismiss it.

This is the Innovator’s Paradox: We want customers to reset their assumptions, but they’re wired not to. And the reason?

We all have threat meters and bullshit meters—and innovation trips both.

A Personal Lesson in Bullshit Detection

Let me tell you about the time I ran headfirst into this problem myself.

A couple of years ago, my team and I were locked into a CRM platform that worked well enough for our business. But as happens to all of us, I started getting those persistent emails and cold calls from Salesforce . You know the ones:

“Switch to us, and everything will be transformed!”

Like most busy executives, I ignored the emails.

And the cold calls? If I don’t recognize the number, I don’t pick up.

But then, at a conference, I ran into a Salesforce sales rep in person. He asked if I’d sit through a pitch, and, for some reason—maybe I was feeling polite—I agreed.

Here’s what happened:

1. First, my threat meter kicked in.
2. Then, my bullshit meter lit up.
3. Finally, they missed the most important part: resetting my assumptions.

The takeaway?

Salesforce was trying to sell me on their solution without resetting the way I thought about the problem.

And without that, I was left comparing their offer to what I already knew.

Spoiler: it didn’t win.

Innovation Trips the Wrong Wires

This story isn’t unique. It’s exactly what happens to innovators and customers every day. The problem isn’t your product—it’s the way customers process it.

Our brains are wired to react to new information with two questions:

1. Is this a threat?
2. Is this bullshit?

And when your innovation doesn’t align with what customers already expect, they’ll do exactly what I did during that Salesforce pitch:

Eliminate the threat.

Dismiss the noise.

Move on.

Innovation is asking people to think differently.

But most people don’t want to think differently—they want to confirm what they already know.

This is why your product or service often ends up unfairly measured by outdated expectations and comparisons to legacy tools.

Why "Better" Isn’t Enough

The harsh truth is this: You’re not just competing with other products—you’re competing with habits, assumptions, and muscle memory.

Remember learning a sport as a kid? If you picked up bad habits—like swinging a tennis racket the wrong way—you’d have to unlearn them before you could improve.

The same thing happens with customers.

They’ve spent years building habits around their existing tools, whether it’s a clunky CRM or an inefficient process.

Your product might be better, but they’re stuck in the old swing.

Unless you help them unlearn those habits, they’ll always default back to what feels familiar—even if it’s not the best.

How to Hit the Reset Button

So how do you get customers to stop comparing your product to the past and start seeing it with fresh eyes?

Here’s what works:

1. Change the game, not just the product.
2. Help them unlearn old habits.
3. Stay below the bullshit radar.

Innovation Is a Relay Race

But here’s the thing: Even if you reset your customer’s assumptions, the job isn’t over.

The real magic happens when your customer can teach this new way of thinking to others—because that’s how movements start.

Think of innovation as a relay race. You hand off the baton by resetting your customer’s expectations. Then they pass it along—teaching their team, convincing leadership, building internal coalitions.

Without those champions, your innovation won’t go anywhere. Movements need momentum, and momentum requires champions who believe and evangelize.

The Takeaway: Teach, Don’t Sell

Innovation isn’t about having the best product. It’s about resetting the way people think—and giving them the tools to carry that new mindset forward.

Because in the end, innovation only works if customers stop comparing it to the past and start seeing it for what it really is: a new game with new rules.

The companies that succeed aren’t just the ones with great products. They’re the ones that hit the reset button—and show others how to do the same.

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Since you asked, here is the tech stack that I use to help me write and edit these editions:

Outline the concept: I use the voice function of OpenAI 's ChatGPT IOS app

Topic research: Perplexity . They need to charge more. It's the best AI tool IMO.

First draft: Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Really good at writing.

Final draft: Frank F. Dolan . Yes, I write my own final drafts.

Images: Napkin AI - Its so much fun, I can't call this work.

Cover image: Canva

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