Start with Your Kid's Actual Needs
Inspired by Bill Carr episode
Bill Carr on working backwards: start with the customer's needs, not your constraints. Start with your child's needs, not your agenda.
Bill Carr describes Amazon's philosophy: start with what's best for the customer and work backwards. Sales and revenue follow when you serve customers well.
Now apply this to the Cheesecake Factory. You want your toddler to sit quietly through appetizers, entrees, and that weird moment where everyone pretends they're too full for dessert. But your toddler needs to move. They need to touch things. They need to knock over water glasses. They're not broken—you're just optimizing for the wrong customer.
So work backwards. What does this tiny customer actually need? A snack before you leave so they're not feral. Crayons that aren't just three broken pieces of brown. A restaurant with those tables near the window where they can watch cars, which is honestly their favorite show anyway.
When you design for their actual needs instead of your fantasy of a peaceful dinner, you're not fighting a losing battle. You're just finally building the right product.
