Apple is famous for not engaging in the focus-grouping that defines most business product and marketing strategy.

Which is partly why Apples products and advertising are so insanely great. They have the courage of their own convictions, instead of the opinions of everyone else's whims.

On the subject, Steve Jobs loves to quote Henry Ford who once said that if he had asked people what they wanted they would have said "a faster horse."

Focus groups are all about reference points. Make it more like this, less like that. Whether it's business, social business, or charity, breakthroughs are defined by the absence of reference points, and leadership is defined by the courage to leave all of the reference points behind.

That's why it's so rare.

Follow the link below to read the entire article:

http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2010/02/no-reference-points.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-DAILY_ALERT-_-AWEBER-_-DATE

Dan Pallotta is a leading expert on innovation in the nonprofit sector and a pioneering social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. He is the author of Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.