With all due respect to Justin Foster who recently contributed “Beyond the Bacon” to this blog, I see it differently. As a vegetarian, any meat metaphors are pretty much lost on me. I have no plans to “be the bacon” let alone “eat the bacon.” And doesn’t that mean I am eating myself? Who would do that? It reminds me of that old line about the chicken and the pig who decided to have some friends over for a breakfast of bacon and eggs. The chicken was involved, but the pig was committed.

With the obesity epidemic in our country I also have a problem with suggesting that people should eat more bacon and less oatmeal, unless they need to bulk up on their cholesterol. Not likely. The bacon may taste better (to SOME people) but the oatmeal is definitely better for you in the long run. And therein lies the real problem.

As Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made To Stick, point out in the November issue of Fast Company, entrepreneurs think they can sell vitamins (good for you – nice to have) but people buy aspirin (cures your pain – must have.) As the Heaths say, “You’ve heard the old saying, ‘If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.’ Don’t bet on it. The world’s felt need isn’t for a better mousetrap. It’s for a dead mouse” (Again with killing the animals!).

I think they are on to something. How can we discern our clients “felt needs?” Love them. Get to know them really well. They will tell you about their pain. Then you provide the aspirin. Perhaps Mr. Foster was saying something similar in his blog. Maybe I even agree with him – accept about the bacon.