“Perceiving Needs” by Rolf Faste
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Why It Matters 💡
Many innovation efforts fail not because solutions are weak, but because the need was never truly seen. In this foundational essay, Rolf Faste argues that needfinding is not a technical activity — it is a perceptual and moral one, shaped by attention, empathy, language, and personal awareness.
What It Explores 🤔
Faste dismantles the assumption that needs are objective facts waiting to be discovered. Instead, he shows that needs are perceived absences — something missing that only becomes visible through human interpretation.
Drawing on psychology, design, and philosophy, the paper explores how perception works, how prior experience shapes what we see, and why recognizing needs requires more than analysis or market data.
Key Ideas & Distinctions 🧭
Needs are not objects — they are perceived lacks
Perception is creative, not passive
We see what we are prepared to see
Needfinding requires empathy and involvement
Intuition plays a legitimate role in recognizing real needs
Good problems energize people and organizations
What the Reading Reveals 🔍
This essay makes visible several uncomfortable truths:
Needs are often clearest only after solutions exist
Professional training narrows perception rather than expanding it
Different roles (engineers, marketers, designers, leaders) see entirely different “needs”
Organizations routinely confuse complaints, wants, and technical feasibility with real human needs
Many needs remain invisible because naming them would demand responsibility, change, or moral clarity
Faste shows that perception itself shapes reality — and therefore shapes what organizations choose to build.
Practical Implications 🛠️
For leaders and innovators, this reading reframes everyday work:
Why technically brilliant products fail
Why user research often misses what matters most
Why intuition, when disciplined, is not the enemy of rigor
Why empathy is not “soft,” but perceptual precision
Why needfinding should precede strategy, design, and execution
It also explains why design and leadership must evolve together, with problems and solutions co-emerging through iteration.
Why It’s Relevant for Leaders Today 🚦
In environments dominated by metrics, speed, and optimization, perception quietly collapses. This essay is a counterweight. It reminds leaders that the most consequential decisions — what problems to work on, what needs to serve, what futures to enable — cannot be outsourced to data alone. They require presence, humility, and the courage to notice what isn’t yet obvious.
The Takeaway 🥡
Needs are not found. They are seen — by those willing to question their assumptions and take responsibility for what they notice.