Every company prides itself on giving customers what they ask for. Healthier fast-food products. Nicotine-free cigarettes. Bigger engines in cars. After all, giving people what they want will guarantee success—or so you would think. Customers often describe the solutions they want in less focus groups and surveys and sit back and wait while R&D rolls up its collective sleeves and gets to work on materializing their ideas. How sad it is, then, when the product or service is finally introduced—and the only reaction in the marketplace is a resounding ker-flop.