Each and every week the Square Holes team are deep in the bowels of a number of projects, working to mine all of the insights that we can to help grow businesses and support thriving cities.

These insights are used by businesses and organisations to innovate their offerings, move into new markets, track their impact and hone their products and output. Each week we will be sharing a broad insight that we have learnt for you to use in your own work.

Let us know what you find valuable!

Jason: Personality not perfection makes x-factor

After 400 editions of Square Holes Think!, my thinking is that the real X-factor isn’t trying to be cool. It’s staying curious and resilient when things get tough. Cool fades. But the people who keep showing up, learning, and caring through chaos? They’re the ones who make a difference. Behavioural science shows that it is small steps, not grand gestures, that drive real change. Iterative progress, one step at a time, over the mountain, or through the valley. Survival, with purpose, despite not knowing what is ahead  is underrated. People are messy — and people are cool. It is the messy, the imperfection, that is the x-factor.

A few years back I wrote a piece about the Pratfall Effect (human choices are not guided by perfection but general competency).

“In one study, psychologists videotaped people as they entered a room and introduced themselves to two people. They then asked strangers to rate the videotaped subjects on physical attractiveness, emotional expressiveness and social skills. All three qualities contributed to the subjects’ overall likability—but attractiveness was the least important factor.”

And another research study illustrated: “Our results show that participants liked the faulty robot significantly better than the robot that interacted flawlessly.”

Dylan: Experience over promise

A brand’s promise is only as powerful as the experience that delivers it. Whether it’s luxury fashion or everyday cleaning products, customers internalise what a brand feels like, not just what it says. Every touchpoint, from a store greeting to a mobile app, is an opportunity to strengthen relationships with customers and support the overall brand strategy, in turn strengthening emotional associations, brand preference and customer advocacy / loyalty. The lesson here is to align your message with the moment, because brands often live in the details people remember.

Mahalia: It’s cool to be you

A study published earlier this month by the American Psychological Association has attempted to answer the age old question of “what is cool?” In a survey of 6,000 participants from countries including the USA, Australia and South Africa, researchers asked respondents to think of a person in their lives whom they perceive to be both cool or uncool, and then asked them to rate that person’s personality on two scales known as the Big Five Personality scale and the Portrait Values Questionnaire.

What the research found was “cool people are perceived to be more extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous, whereas good people are more conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm”.

Through our research what tends to ring true is that those brands that hold that x-factor tend to be authentic, engaging, and hold a deep understanding of their customers. So while you may not always be cool, having x-factor is more about being true to your brand and honouring your customer base by sticking to that authenticity in how you operate and communicate.

Think your business or organisation could do with some insights? Contact us here.