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Complexity Avalanche
Book

Complexity Avalanche

Overcoming the Threat to Technology Adoption

Point B, 2009 plus...


Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

In this accessible, widely applicable book, technology industry executive J.B. Wood addresses a visceral reality: As technology explodes, manufacturers of new products add features faster than users can learn to use them. As a result, returns of perfectly good products skyrocket, consumers turn mulish and sales of new products stall. However, Wood offers a solution: Shift your organization’s focus from sales to customer success, in the form of service and support. He details his suggestion by documenting what such a transition would offer and explaining how challenging it would be to implement. His presentation is not perfect. It needs better proofreading and, as president and CEO of the Technology Services Industry Association, Wood perhaps beats its drum a bit too hard in preference to other possible solutions. Those caveats aside, leaders and marketers from every company dealing with technology should read this book. In particular, getAbstract recommends it to executives planning for the future, corporate managers focused on high tech and would-be innovators who don’t want to far outpace the buying public.

Take-Aways

  • As technology companies add more and more features to their products, consumers become overwhelmed.
  • Customers who can’t understand how to use the complex gadgets or features just abandon them.
  • This “consumption gap” is cutting into tech companies’ margins.

About the Author

J.B. Wood is president and CEO of the Technology Services Industry Association. He co-founded InsightExpress, which helps companies use the Internet for market research.