Why Henry Ford's 'Faster Horses' Is a Lesson on Customer Needs vs. Solutions

Henry Ford is frequently quoted as having said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” I assert that upon deeper inquiry, customers would have voiced their core problem - “It is very time consuming to go from A to B” or expressed their desire (want) – “I would love to be able to go from A to B more swiftly”. If prodded on the possible solutions for traveling faster, customers would have likely ideated and shared some solutions, however, it's improbable that these individuals would have envisioned the same solution that Ford was crafting - an automobile.

Here, it is important to distinguish between ‘customer needs’ and ‘solutions’. Customer need is a core problem or gap in their current experience, while solutions are possible ways of addressing the need. In the above example, the customer need is ‘to commute faster’ while an ‘automobile’ is the solution envisioned by Henry Ford. When talking to customers, it is extremely important to focus on understanding the problem space (their needs). While it is good to get customer ideas on the solutions, it is ultimately the Business’s job to come up with a solution or product that would address the customer’s needs. This was best articulated by Theodore Levitt, Professor at Harvard Business School – “People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!"

Customers may have solution ideas; however, it is limited by their experience and awareness. Whereas the Business is expected to have far more technical expertise in identifying solutions to meet customer needs. For example, when asked, customers may tell you if they are hungry and may tell you their cuisine preference based on everything that they have tasted (experienced), read, or heard about. The chef may decide to serve them a completely different, new, and exotic dish. While the customers may love this dish, there is no way they could have “wanted it”, before the chef made them aware of it. ?As Steve Jobs once said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

Finally, it is important to note that customer needs are often consistent, and some needs never change. But the solutions to address those needs vary by businesses and evolve with advancements in technology. For example, the customer's need to “get from A to B faster” is consistent. Solutions have evolved from breeding faster horses to automobiles, bullet trains, and supersonic jets. However, there is still no end in sight and there is ongoing research on new solutions such as hyperloop, and a new breed of technologies for faster space travel.

In conclusion, while Henry Ford's notion of 'faster horses' remains a powerful anecdote in the realm of business and innovation, it also serves as a timeless lesson about the distinction between customer needs and solutions. Customers, with their direct experiences and innate understanding of their own problems, are invaluable in defining needs. However, it falls upon the businesses, with their technical expertise and broader vision, to translate these needs into innovative solutions.

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This article first appeared in Product Bar Raisers