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A 15-MINUTE INTERACTIVE LESSON WITH HBS DEAN SRIKANT DATAR

Communicating Customer Value

What good is an innovation if no one understands its value?

Effective communication is an essential element of successful innovation. To see the pitfalls and
how to avoid them, let’s play a game called “Tapper and Listener.”

On one side of the table, a tapper taps out the rhythm of a song. On the other side of the table, a
listener tries to identify the song that the tapper is tapping out.

Section 1 of 16

Using only well-known songs and a tapper with excellent rhythm, which
percentage of songs do you think a listener would identify correctly?

2.5%

8.3%

15.6%

26.1%
 43.8%

SUBMIT

43.8% 26.1%

15.6% 8.3%

2.5%

Section 2 of 16


SRIKANT DATAR: OK.

1:08 / 1:08 Speed: 1x Paused

Section 3 of 16

Do you think Emma, the listener, identified Kofi’s song correctly?

Yes
 No

SUBMIT

Yes No

Section 4 of 16

I BELIEVE IT WAS 'ROW, ROW, ROW

YOUR BOAT'?
—EMMA
Section 5 of 16

Emma guessed incorrectly. The song was “London Bridge.” Why did it happen this way? The
song is very well-known and Kofi did an excellent job tapping it out.

Let’s try a different song but, this time, we'll observe from the listener’s perspective.
 Section 6 of 16


[LAUGHTER] OK.

0:42 / 0:42 Speed: 1x Paused

Section 7 of 16

Which song do you think Kofi was tapping?

Old MacDonald

Happy Birthday To You

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Ring Around The Rosie

None of the above

SUBMIT
 Section 8 of 16

IT'S A WELL-KNOWN SONG. I'M

SURE SHE'LL KNOW IT.
—KOFI
Section 9 of 16

Kofi was tapping “Old MacDonald”

Did you guess correctly? Emma, like most people, didn't. She heard it as “Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star.”

Kofi, however, was certain that Emma would identify it as "Old MacDonald"—it was so obvious!
This is what Chip and Dan Heath refer to as “The Curse of Knowledge.”

Section 10 of 16
WHENEVER YOU’RE INNOVATING
IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO COME UP
WITH A GREAT IDEA. YOU MUST
HAVE THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT THE LISTENER IS
EXPERIENCING.
—DEAN SRIKANT DATAR
Section 11 of 16

Now that you’ve had the chance to play both tapper and listener, would you
like to change your original answer? Which percentage of songs do you think a
listener would identify correctly?

2.5%

8.3%

15.6%

26.1%

43.8%

SUBMIT
 Section 12 of 16

1:18 / 1:18 Speed: 1x Paused

Section 13 of 16

Only 2.5% of listeners will identify a song correctly! Can you think of an
innovation that either did a good job or a bad job of “tapping” out value to
listeners? What worked or didn’t work?

Digital currency.
 SUBMIT

PEER RESPONSES

Google Glass launched with such

fanfare, only to abruptly fizzle out.
While wearable smart glasses sounded
cool, it wasn't clear why I'd want to risk
my privacy to wear a camera on my
face—particularly when it was so
expensive.
- AMELIA, UNITED KINGDOM

Section 14 of 16

1:04 / 1:04 Speed: 1x Paused

Section 15 of 16
 Thank you for completing this lesson!
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