We're all in the technology business, but I think sometimes we get caught up

in the technology and not ways to apply it to make it meaningful to people,

either directly or via the business that employs us. I guess that is not all

bad, someone has to manage bits and bytes, right? Yet as much as I (we?) like

technology, I like to think that first and foremost we're problem solvers.

Over the past year or so I've seen some really interesting innovations both

in software and consumer products (not tech related). The interesting thing

about all of these is that to me none are revolutionary, but the result of

someone realizing that they could solve a problem in a better way. The

proverbial mousetrap.

Example #1. I visited Salt Lake City this year, downtown is great for

walking, but some of the streets are six lanes across. They have the walk/don't

walk signs that I imagine you've all seen. What do you do when the don't walk

signal starts to flash? Run, fast walk, hurry up in some way. These signs were

the first I had seen that showed how long you had left to cross, counting down

from 20 seconds. Now you don't have to run or wonder how long you have left to

cross.

Example #2. Actually on the way to Salt Lake City the onboard monitors showed

the flight path, direction, landmarks, speed, temperature outside, etc. I

wouldn't say it's enthralling, but it's very nice to look at sometimes as you

look out the window, wondering what is below.

Example #3. Most bottles/containers of mustard, ketchup, and similar items

come sealed with a foil seal to prevent tampering. They work good enough that

they are frustrating to remove. New versions have a nice pull tab on top,

accomplishes the original purpose AND makes it easier for the end user.

The pattern I see is that the technology to accomplish all three of those

exists - and probably has existed for some time. The trick was realizing there

was a problem. These aren't problems that would have stopped your business, or

caused you not to buy a product. Maybe you never even thought of not having the

examples above as a problem. Yet once you see the solution, would you want to go

back to the old way?

Look for the pain points. Things that take your employees or customers a long

time to do, or that they try to avoid because it's tedious, not fun, doesn't

feel very useful. There are places there where a surprisingly small amount of

effort may result in a huge gain in perceived value or usefulness. Not every

innovation has to cost a million dollars.

Sometimes it's mundane. My employer probably takes on around 20 new clients

each year. For each of those we have to create a database, replicate a portion

of it to a reporting server, configure various initial settings in perhaps 10

different places before we're ready to actually load some data and do business.

Done manually, it's probably a 50 or 60 step operation that takes 30 minutes or

so for someone who has done it before. It's also slightly error prone, very easy

to miss a step or get a step wrong. We bundled the whole process into a utility

app, probably took 4-6 hours to code and do a test run. Now it takes 5 minutes

instead of 30. I think you can see that there is a positive ROI there, but ROI

isn't the only issue here. We get a solid result each time and we automate a

task that can be automated, changing what was drudgery to a quick administrative

task. In the same ballpark as the tab on the ketchup seal? Well, maybe not, but

it's the best working example I could think of!

As I think more about it, I'm not sure it is a good example. Automating

processes is a fine idea and usually worth doing, but the ideas I'm looking for

involve more of a conceptual leap, or at least I think the great ones do. It's

more of a user interface, usability issue.

I don't the answers, and maybe not even new questions. I do know that our

businesses rely on us for not just core technology, but to help them find the

innovations that keep the work coming in - and our checks going out. Spend a few

minutes a week thinking about strategic ideas in your corner of the world.