One “beautiful question”​ that seems obvious, but have you asked it?

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On December 1st I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at the Insights Association’s CONVERGE conference, sharing Alpha-Diver’s take on how to predict which consumer behaviors will ‘stick’ in a post-pandemic world. Our moderator Bianca Pryor kept the discussion lively and closed it out with a thought-provoking question. “What is one ‘beautiful question’ the audience can start asking TODAY?” A ‘beautiful question’ according to Warren Berger is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something—and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change.

I don’t mean to brag, but I think our answer here at Alpha-Diver is rather good, and it’s one I’d like to pose to you as you think about the year to come: what do you want to see happen in the post-pandemic world? So many conferences, webinars, and studies this year have tried to distill and describe what IS happening, or to predict what WILL happen, but have you thought about what you WANT to see happen for your business?

Truly understanding what drives consumer behavior provides you with the tools to reach out to your consumers in ways that will facilitate them either sticking with new habits they’ve developed (such as cooking / baking more at home, buying in bulk, shopping online) or shedding “COVID-era” habits in favor of what they used to do (returning to QSRs and fast casual, shopping in-store, snacking on-the-go). Depending on the context you work in, you may or may not want to see things “go back to normal.” So, the beautiful question you should be asking is “what do we want our customers to do, and what can we do about it?”

Here’s my full presentation :

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