Idenifying the Problem can also be a Problem! It is commonly said that identifying the problem means it is half-solved - well, may not literally, but figuratively, for sure! Consider scenarios where people were content with: Using landline phones before the advent of mobile phones. Hailing cabs prior to the emergence of Uber®. Shopping in stores before the convenience of Amazon®. Paying with cash or cheques before the rise of electronic payments and digital wallets. Travelling by rail or road before the accessibility of low-cost airlines. There are many more examples across almost all industries. In each case, a handful of individuals were not satisfied with the current ways of doing things and believed there could be other, possibly better, ways – be these radical or incremental. This ‘dissatisfaction’ is the first step toward innovation – recognising that the current method is not the only way and identifying the 'problem' to be solved. This shift in mindset f...
Those of us working within the innovation space know precisely how nuanced and subjective this discipline is, so much so that a lot of individuals and organisations have very different perspectives on it. I’ve gathered experiential data of such perspectives by engaging over 100+ organisations, and enabling 2500+ individuals, over the past decade and a half. However, to quantify the same, I conducted a LinkedIn Poll in which I asked my extended network to choose between four perspectives that I have predominantly come across. The number of perspectives which I could share were limited by the LinkedIn feature, and hence, I synthesised these into four discreet ones. To keep the options open for more and varied perspectives, I invited respondents to share anything else in the comments section. The poll options and the percentage of responses were as follows: A. Joke: Taken lightly/ ridiculed … 11% B. Buzzword: Only talk, no...
In the world of relentless pursuit of success, a mantra often recited is "Failure is not an option" . This is invariably true in ‘business-as-usual’ context where the processes are established, and failures are unpardonable. But, in the context of ‘business-un-usual’ – in other words, innovation, another mantra is more relevant i.e. “Failures are the stepping stones to success” . There are enough examples to illustrate this. The most common one being “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work” by Thomas Edison. Often, failures teach us a lot more than success and need to be made a part of the learning process in the context of evolving an innovative solution. However, failures, even in the context of innovation, can be daunting to deal with unless these are supported by well-designed practices and principles e.g. Aligning the understanding of ‘failure’ All the relevant stakeholders need to have a common understanding of ‘failu...