Sensible Leaders Like Elon Musk Embrace the Rule of Low Expectations. This is Why It Works, and When to Use It

I live in the suburbs outside of New York City, but spend a fair amount of time in rural New Hampshire.

My wife’s parents live there and we love to visit. It’s a beautiful place, lots of opportunities to experience nature and awe.

However, there is a practical problem: the internet connection.

It’s so rural that it’s difficult to get really reliable, fast, and consistent broadband. That makes it hard for people like me to stay up there for long, as almost 100 percent of my work requires a fast internet connection.

I have examined many emergency solutions and of course I am not alone in this dilemma. A 2018 study found that about a quarter of Americans who live in rural areas cannot get reliable high-speed internet.

It is for this reason that I have watched with great personal interest how Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is rolled out. I’m on the waiting list for the public beta test, which is apparently just getting its first non-employed participants.

As I was looking through the reports, I suddenly realized that the way Musk and other bright executives sometimes launch new product offerings like this is something brilliant – deliberately setting very low expectations, which leads to great success.

Take the name of the Starlink beta test itself, for example: “Better Than Nothing Beta”.

“As you can see from the title, we are trying to lower your initial expectations,” said Starlink’s emails to the users selected for the first round, according to CNBC. “Expect data speeds to vary between 50 Mbit / s and 150 Mbit / s and latency between 20 ms and 40 ms over the next few months as we improve the Starlink system. There will also be short periods of no connectivity.”

Against this low bar, almost any type of positive result would deliver well. And so far, some beta users who have had the chance to try it have announced on social media that they have seen a lot more than Starlink promised.

“Starlink is a game changer,” wrote one beta tester. “”[B]Before I got 0.5-12 MB / s, I was now getting 100-160 MB / s. “

You might be thinking, “Hmmm, how do I apply this rule to my business?”

If so, I think it is definitely worth considering – but also that some factors are required to be successful.

First, this only works if you can see real customer pain.

Believe me, not having access to high speed internet in a rural area after living in an urban or suburban area is a significant pain for customers. (Attention world: I’m excited to see Starlink, but I’d be willing to pay a lot for any effective solution.)

Second, you need customers willing to accept a short-term, less-than-ideal solution as part of their hope for a better, longer-term solution.

Third, something related, you probably need scarcity. The Starlink messages work here partly because there are few other options and because the number of beta test slots is still small.

According to PCMag, Starlink’s public beta is focused on rural users in Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. those of us who are a little further east must keep waiting.

Fourth, there need be minimal drawbacks. Because of this, “Better Than Nothing” works for high-speed Internet connections, but not for something where failing to meet a minimum standard would produce really bad results.

Finally, perhaps most importantly, remember that you are trying to set low expectations for customers, not your expectations for yourself or your team.

Starlink’s backbone is a network of ultimately thousands of satellites in near-earth orbit that cost at least $ 10 billion to build and launch.

However, according to CNBC, SpaceX believes total sales could exceed $ 30 billion a year, roughly 10 times what the company is currently doing from its rocket business.

So this is the plan: Leverage low short-term expectations for customers and set high expectations internally.

Could one version of this work for your company as well?

The opinions expressed by Inc.com columnists here are their own, not those of Inc.com.