Focus Test With Your Friends

You have taste.

Meaning, you have stuff you like.

You have friends too.

Probably who share your tastes.

Or, at least some of them.

So when you have a good idea, or a story, or a fact that you’re all excited about - tell them.

Then notice how they react.

Because if they get excited too, you’ve just focus-grouped an idea.

You can use it in all sorts of places.

I used a story about sushi at work this week.

I wrote a post about a background conversation about late night TV with a podcast guest (that got even more feedback than I expected).

I told some professional colleagues (and friends, not just acquaintances or pretend friends) over lunch that I was focus-grouping them, I just wasn’t sure what yet.

That turned into this post.

And not that these have a guaranteed success rate, but - focus testing first will make your odds better than zero.

You’re less likely to totally bomb.

Or at least you can say to yourself, “At least my friends laughed.”

Feedback doesn’t have to be such a scary feeling thing.

It can be just noticing how your friends react.

Almost every one of these posts is something that I said out loud to my wife, or friends in a group chat, or - anyone who could give me actual feedback (sorry dogs, no offense!).

While I don’t think of it as an act of constant focus-grouping, when I review my notes for the week to think about what I’ll write and reflect on, this is top of mind.

Tiny tests for the win.

ps. this all reminds me of Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s work too