It is the Richness of Detail That Matters What distinguishes Remember the Future from simply asking about a future event is the level of detail that customers generate when answering questions framed in the future tense of the verb. Suppose, for example, that we'd like to get a sense about who will win the next FIFA World Cup. The simplest way to frame the question is, "Who will win the next FIFA World Cup?" Asked this way, you're likely to answer with just enough detail to justify your prediction: "France emerged as the lone European country to make it through the quarter-finals through a combination of excellent goal tending and solid free kicks. They easily won their semi-finals and turned in a great match in the finals." Framing it in the future-perfect tense results in, "Imagine that it is the day after the next FIFA World Cup. Who will have won?" You might also say France, but notice that right away your mind is drawn to answering why did France win? The easiest way to put your mind at ease it to answer that question. And the more detail you put into answering the question, the better you feel. The end result is often more like, "France was the unlikely winner after a grueling set of matches played over several weeks. Their goalkeeper was spectacular in the first round, establishing the French team as the team to beat. In the quarter-finals, the French goal keeper made more than 12 saves, giving his team confidence to aggressively and relentlessly attack Brazil, resulting in the lone and deciding goal in the 80th minute of play. The aggressive play continued in the semi-finals, where the French outscored Argentina 3 to nil. Finally, the combination of aggressive attacking and continued brilliant goal tending allowed the French to beat Mexico 2 to 1 in the finals." It is important to note that in both cases we can see plausible explanations of how the future will unfold. The second example, however, contains the rich and detailed explanations of the future that you can leverage to better understand your customers' definition of success. |