A Closer Look at Testing

Influences on Change and Transformation

Issue 181, October 10, 2024

A core strategy in any decision-making is whether we are asking the right questions. Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School professor and economist asked the classic question, “What business are you in?” Transformative examples are Uber is a technology company, not a ride-sharing company — ditto for Airbnb, Google and Amazon as tech companies, not the obvious.

Okay for asking questions. But what about challenging the sacrosanct strategy of testing new concepts? Testing is the Holy Grail in our data-obsessed business culture. Technically, testing is a “stage in the product development process where a detailed description of a product (and of its attributes and benefits) is presented to prospective customers or users to assess their attitudes and intentions toward the product. In other words, concept testing is a way to optimize your innovation, drastically reduce the risk of project failure and limit excessive costs. Concept testing is crucial for product de…