Chapter 4: Need Discipline

The previous chapters focused on knowledge- and technology-related disciplines of our value creation framework that have the potential to create value for a firm. For a firm to realize its value, it has to satisfy the needs of customers. In Chapter 4 we provide a description of need discipline that should be part of a firm's OGD. The topics covered are need seeking, need surfacing, need shaping, need obsoleting, need ecologizing, and need rhythm synchronizing. Chapter 5 will discuss customer discipline.

Needs are consumer motivators, plain and simple. Another way to view needs is that they are customer problems that are to be solved. Therefore, it is strikingly obvious that a discipline based on identifying needs and finding solutions to those needs must be a growth discipline.