Innovate like a Russian rather than an American
There’s an infamous old innovation wives tale that you are sure to be well aware of.
Quite simply, the story goes that NASA spent millions of dollars developing an ‘astronaut pen’ that would work in outer space, while the Soviets fixed the problem much more cheaply and quickly by using pencils.
Sadly [according to Snopes] the story is not true, but the lesson behind it is very relevant in the context of a cautionary tale warning against the over engineering of an innovative solution, when a simpler route will work just as well.
As an example — recently it was announced that South African bank Investec has decided to retire their innovative robo-advisor business [an AI-powered investment advise platform] after just two years of operation, because of low demand and excessive overheads.
We often find that employees tasked with the role of being innovate feel the need to pursue and adopt outlandish technology in an apparent effort to prove that their role as innovators is justified. As long as you are using the right buzzwords and making a big noise about future-like innovations that very few of your colleagues really understand — your bloated salary is safe.
But this particular kind of lack of self confidence can be very expensive for a business to entertain. Investec’s poorly judged misadventure into AI-powered investing cost them £26m over two years.
Innovation should rather be undertaken with the mindset of frugality.
If you can solve a problem without spending a cent, you are a far better innovator than somebody who invents the most amazing machine, at huge expense, to arrive as the same outcome.
Innovation is not about the artefact you create, but rather how impressive your return on investment turns out to be.
If you can create a lot of value with very little input, that’s the holy grail of innovation. Tell that to the next person who comes into a meeting blabbing on about AI and blockchain technology, when a simple spreadsheet might suffice.
