It seems that all too often, innovation has become synonymous with technology.
I was recently working with a company that had a number of challenges they wanted to solve. Most of them looked something like this…
“How can we use big data in order to better understand customer needs?”
Of course, this is a common challenge in today’s world of analytics.
The problem is, as it is worded, this question implies a particular solution: big data. It assumes that a technological answer is the best approach.
However, what this company really wants to do is understand its customers’ needs. There are many ways to do this that don’t involve technology.
For example, ethnography is a powerful tool for understanding latent customer desires. This requires very little technology, although technology may enable it. Regardless, the technology involved is not big data, but rather observational tools.
Another approach would be to understand subconscious needs. This can be accomplished through a variety of story telling methods that involve metaphors (see my book, “Best Practices are Stupid” for more on this). And if technology is used, it again would not be big data oriented, but might be something like an “implicit association test” (I developed a personality-based implicit association test as a means of testing subconscious beliefs about yourself and your personality).
I am currently working on a new tool to help organizations better define their challenges. And although there may be a technological component in the future, the primary solution uses a deck of cards and other “physical” (versus digital) items.
When innovating, ask yourself, “How could I solve this problem without technology?”
Look for as many different possible solutions. Only add in technology after you have considered other approaches.
Technology can be sexy. But it can be complex and messy.
Technology for technology sake is not the way to go.