Zebra

                                       


 What is a ZEbRA?

It might be easy to look at some of these Dangerous Animals and say, “That would never be me. I don’t have the authority to be a HiPPO and I’m too clued in to be a RHiNO.” And that may be true. But we can all be guilty of being ZEbRAs from time to time—yes, even the product managers and engineers among us.

Sure, we theoretically understand the importance of having evidence to back up our opinions. But sometimes when we’re dealing in our areas of expertise, it can be tempting to skip over some of the validation process.

Why are ZEbRAs dangerous?

When ZEbRAs take control, you risk building products or making decisions that aren’t 
 validated (sound familiar?). You might luck out occasionally and still get things right. 
 But you could also lead the product in the wrong direction. Maybe you build things that your customers don’t need. Or you miss out on key market opportunities.

ZEbRAs in the wild

Consider the case of Blockbuster CEO John Antioco, who had the opportunity to buy a small company called Netflix for $50 million. He dismissed Netflix executives’ data-driven presentation and said “The dot-com hysteria is completely overblown.”  We all know how this story ends.

An Inc. article describing this exchange sums up the problem with this classic ZEbRA behavior: “...There's also an important business lesson and this is it: Never, ever be arrogant. Even if the person sitting in front of you has said something that seems absurd, even if it makes you want 14 to laugh, pause for a moment and give it your serious consideration.”

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