859: The Monster Has A Life

In the 1980s I played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons. It was pretty epic. What started as a little hobby became a huge part of my life ... every weekend spent on a quest ... or creating one for others. I spent huge amounts of time wrapped up in my imagination. And in empathy. At some point during that time, I read an article in White Dwarf magazine about creating realistic worlds. The monsters – it said – aren't just standing behind the door waiting for the adventurers to turn up. They have jobs, needs, feelings and desires. They have lives. I can't say whether that early lesson made a difference to my business career, but I remember the difference it made to the depth a quality of the adventures I was creating. Empathy is a foundation skill, whether we are designing fantasy worlds ... or products and services for our customers. The internet has made it easy to see people as numbers in a conversion funnel, but easy doesn't mean right. Customers are like monsters. They have lives too. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/859-The-Monster-Has-A-Life