A friend told me a story today that perfectly captures why most B2B content misses the mark, and how a 1950s NASA discovery holds the key to creating content that actually connects.
A friend told me a story today that I can't stop thinking about. It was one of those moments where a simple anecdote perfectly articulates something you've believed for year, but couldn't quite put into words.
Picture this: NASA's early engineers, determined to design the perfect astronaut cockpit. They approached it like any good engineering problem; gather data, find patterns, optimize for efficiency.
They measured thousands of pilots across every conceivable dimension. Height, arm span, leg length, torso depth, reach distance. Then they crunched the numbers, calculated statistical averages, and designed what should have been the ideal cockpit for the "average" astronaut.
The result seemed logical. Scientific. Bulletproof.
There was just one devastating problem: Not a single astronaut fit the average across all dimensions. Not one.
In that moment, NASA discovered something that would revolutionize their approach to human-centered design: Designing for the average is designing for no one.
They scrapped their "perfect" cockpit and instead built systems that adapted to the range of real people who would actually use them. Adjustable seats, moveable controls, flexible interfaces that could accommodate the diversity of human bodies and behaviors.
As I listened to this story, it hit me like lightning, this is exactly what we've been doing wrong in B2B content marketing. The analogy was so perfect it almost hurt.
Walk into any content planning meeting and you'll hear the familiar refrains:
"Let's keep it broad so it appeals to everyone."
"We'll write it for a senior decision-maker... but make sure it's not too technical for the broader team."
"Let's aim for mid-funnel, but also make it work for top-of-funnel prospects."
Sound familiar? We've all been there, trying to thread the needle between relevance and reach, specificity and scale.
But here's what we're really doing: we're designing content cockpits for an astronaut who doesn't exist.
Think about your last "broad appeal" thought leadership piece. Who was it really for? The C-suite executive who needs strategic vision? The technical evaluator who wants implementation details? The procurement manager focused on risk mitigation? The end user worried about daily workflow disruption?
The honest answer is usually "all of them", which means it's perfectly calibrated for none of them.
When we design for the mythical median buyer, we create content that's professionally polished, strategically sound, and completely forgettable. It ticks all the boxes on our content brief while failing to move the needle where it matters most: in the minds and hearts of real people making real decisions.
This average-optimized content suffers from what I call "statistical safety syndrome":
We end up with content that reads like it was written by committee, because it essentially was, optimized for an imaginary committee of average buyers rather than crafted for actual humans with specific needs, constraints, and motivations.
NASA's solution wasn't to find better average measurements. It was to abandon the concept entirely and build systems that could flex to fit real people in real situations.
What would this look like in B2B content?
Instead of one "comprehensive" whitepaper, imagine a content system that adapts based on who's engaging:
Same core insights, different presentations. Same strategic message, different entry points.
The breakthrough comes when we stop writing for demographic segments and start writing for psychographic moments. Instead of "VP of Marketing, 5-10 years experience, technology sector," we write for "overwhelmed marketing leader facing budget cuts who needs to prove ROI on every initiative."
This shift requires us to move from assumption-based personas to signal-based understanding. Real buyer interviews. Actual sales conversations. Support ticket themes. Win/loss analysis. The messy, complex, contradictory data of human decision-making.
It means accepting that our buyers aren't rational economic actors following predictable decision trees. They're humans dealing with organizational politics, personal career concerns, resource constraints, and the very real fear of making the wrong choice.
When we design content systems that adapt rather than average, something remarkable happens. Instead of creating one piece that's somewhat relevant to everyone, we create multiple touchpoints that are deeply relevant to specific people at specific moments.
This isn't about creating more content, it's about creating smarter content architecture. Content that can be consumed differently by different stakeholders while maintaining message consistency and strategic alignment.
The results speak for themselves:
Here's what's at stake: while we've been designing content for mythical average buyers, our actual buyers have been drowning in an ocean of irrelevant information. They're overwhelmed, skeptical, and increasingly immune to generic messaging.
The numbers tell the story. B2B buyers now consume an average of 13 pieces of content before making a purchase decision. But here's the kicker, most of that content doesn't help them move forward. It just adds to the noise.
Meanwhile, your competitors who figure this out first will own the conversations that matter. They'll be the ones prospects actually engage with, share internally, and remember when decision time comes.
NASA didn't solve their cockpit problem by finding better pilots or more accurate measurements. They solved it by rejecting the premise that one size should fit all.
The same principle applies to B2B content. We won't create breakthrough content by finding better personas or more precise targeting. We'll create it by building systems that acknowledge and accommodate the beautiful, messy diversity of how real people actually make decisions.
This isn't just about better content, it's about competitive advantage. When everyone else is still building for the average, you'll be building for the real people making real decisions with real money.
Every day you spend creating "broad appeal" content is a day your competitors could be building deeper connections with the people who actually matter to your business.
Think about your last quarter's content performance. How much of it drove actual pipeline? How much created genuine engagement versus polite acknowledgment? How much moved deals forward versus just checking a box in someone's research process?
Here's the uncomfortable truth: if your content isn't making buyers think "finally, someone who gets it," then it's just adding to the pile of professional-sounding noise they're already ignoring.
The companies winning in B2B aren't the ones with the most content, they're the ones whose content actually fits.
Here's the question that changes everything: Who are you really trying to reach, and what do they actually need from you?
Not the averaged, aggregated, demographically smoothed version of your buyer. The real person, with real constraints, real fears, and real objectives that may or may not align with your perfectly rational buyer journey map.
When you can answer that question with brutal specificity and genuine empathy, you're ready to build content that adapts instead of averages. Content that moves deals instead of just moving through approval processes.
The astronauts are waiting. Your buyers are waiting. It's time to build them something that actually fits.
This story changed how I think about content today. What's your NASA cockpit moment? When did you realize you were designing for an average buyer who didn't exist? Because every breakthrough starts with recognizing the problem we didn't know we had.