1 reason why making things for everyone is a good idea and 13 reasons why it’s terrible
Saying you’re making things for everyone - it sounds great. Most people will agree it’s a great story to tell… and to hear.
Here’s why it’s a terrible idea:
1) Everyone is no one in particular
2) Average as a proxy for everyone does not describe any person’s real life experience: living on a dollar a day and living on a 1000 dollars a day is not… living on 500 dollars a day on average; it’s totally different
3) My everyone, your everyone and someone else’s everyone are really not the same thing
4) Everyone is a collection of many, many, many, many different someones you can’t please at the same time
5) Everyone is different. Which means we need to create… different things, not one thing, because people want different things, not one thing
6) Everyone means we are not excluding anything, but we’re not really clear what we want either
7) Everyone means we are afraid to choose to make something really outstanding
8) Everyone means we are forcing something on a lot of people that might not really need it or want it
9) Isn’t making something for everyone putting too much unnecessary pressure on us, adding complexity we can’t reasonably solve?
10) Being something for everyone is always less powerful than being everything to SOMEONE
11) Our “everyone” might a very big number, but if we scratch beneath the surface, what does it really mean besides a number to cover our back, a number we use to create the impression that we’re doing something big?
12) Everyone is a fake safe option, there’s nothing in the world that is for everyone
13) The only things everyone NEEDS are water, food, shelter and love. Even these things we might want in different ways, not only one. So even with that, people WANT different things, not one thing. Something… like this and not like that.
So if we want to make something meaningful, that solves and adds value to someone’s life, if we really care, we make it… FOR THEM, for their needs, wants and fears. Maybe they are just like us in a way and that’s our starting point - instead of an average of an average or a number.
Know that what we make cannot and should not be for everyone and that’s ok. It’s for the best. I promise. So choose someone in particular… It’s your move.