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...