One of my best experiences as a market researcher was as part of a small business case team at a Fortune 500 company.
The business case was going into its third attempt. Twice, other teams had worked the case and then slowly made the rounds up the managerial ranks, only to have the case rejected before reaching the ultimate decision-makers, the board of directors of the firm.
As you might imagine, to require approval at that level, the business case was asking the firm to make a multi-billion dollar investment in hardware and software capacity.
My boss had been a member of the second team that tried and did not succeed. His boss, in turn, had been on the first team. So, I was somewhat taken back when my boss stopped by my office one day to discuss my participation in a third effort.
I was the new kid on the block–a fresh recruit from the marketing research organization, I was now working my first (and only) stint in product management. It was a chance to get my ticket punched and, possibly, to receive a promotion, if all went well. But to have my boss entrust me with the somewhat overwhelming responsibility of representing the group, as the primary interface with market research, was surprising. I was still learning the lore of my new organization, grappling with the specialized business lingo there, and still working to make my mark in the group, in essence, to prove that I was capable of contributing solidly to the organization’s goals and responsibilities.
I had worked for my boss prior to us working together in product management. He had been my manager in market research. We worked well together and he had brought me over to add a fresh perspective to the somewhat stolid product team.
He was taking a pretty big chance. Clearly, both his success and his boss’s success were linked to the business case and both of them had worked long and hard on it without reaching the final goal of approval.
Now they were giving me an opportunity.
Parts 2 and 3 to follow.
Comments welcome.
Dr. Bob
