The Community Is NOT Your Customer – the counterintuitive way to add more value to your community

This article is also available as a video – click here to watch it – 4 mins with captions.

Many of my clients are in the social sector, and within that, government at all levels.  Often in workshops, the question is asked “who is your customer”.  The answer…”the community”.

This comes from a good place.  But….there is a better way to see who the ‘Customer’ is, which leads to ultimately serving that community better.  And…these ideas also apply to those in the private sector too.

Work System Model

Here’s a basic diagram of a work system.  These ideas are informed by the work of Ken Miller who wrote a book called “We Don’t Make Widgets”, specifically for government enterprises.  Well worth a read.