Hard in theory and hard in practice

Hard in theory and hard in practice

People often say “the most complex problems are solved with the most simple solutions” and whilst that’s poetic, most of the time, it’s simply not true. I actually think it perpetuates the idea that innovation is easy just doing things differently – right?

All too often I see this approach come undone when it’s stress tested.

Allow me to break it down with an example from our fictional friend Sam, the startup owner. You might remember them from the last newsletter.

Sam runs a grocery delivery service and the research shows that consumers want quicker deliveries. It’s actually their number one motivation. They want the whole experience of shopping to end as soon as possible. So, Sam being a “customer centric” innovator, implements this insight with a classic “simple-solutions-for-complex-problems” mindset.

“All we need to do is make it faster,” says Sam.

The plan is foolproof: put warehouses closer to the city centre. It will slash delivery times dramatically, making the experience faster. Of course! Why has no one done this yet?

Sam’s about to find out why.

To keep the costs down, the warehouses must be smaller. A lot smaller. They become what’s called a dark store, essentially it’s a space comparable to a regular shop but it's not open to the public. Since real estate in cities is expensive, Sam must scale down the product variety and increase the prices to cover the higher costs. Then the central locations of these stores also means the delivery method have to be scaled down, from vans to scooters, resulting in more trips for fewer orders.

With one “simple solution” Sam traded price, service, efficiency and product, all for speed.

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to work out what happened – it failed. So where did it all go wrong?

The answer is oversimplification.

  • Firstly, Sam oversimplified the customer, “they just want faster deliveries”
  • Secondly, Sam oversimplified the problem “they want the experience minimised”
  • Thirdly, Sam oversimplified solution, “move the warehouse closer”

Innovation isn’t a light bulb moment, even if it’s retold that way in a CEOs autobiography. Everything doesn’t fall into place after the first step, it requires iterations and tests before creating something that feels intuitive, the process behind it is anything but simple.

So what should Sam have done?

Well, I’m not an expert in grocery commerce but I can say that innovators approach these situations the same way:

  • Firstly, “our customers are motivated by a complex combination of things, what are their 'hair-on-fire problems and desires' ”
  • Secondly, “how can we change the experience to become something enjoyable that solves their wants and needs”
  • Thirdly, “let’s build a service with a clear business model and unit economics in mind”

In the end – there are no shortcuts, innovation is hard in theory and hard in practice. Let’s embrace that process.

Christoph U. Lüer

Senior Insurance Executive | Experienced Executive Advisor & Consultant | Chief Underwriting Officer

2 年

Good one - The simple solution is the hardest one. As Oscar Wilde (allegedly) wrote: Excuse the length of my letter, I did not have time for a shorter one.

Robert Marshall

Business Manager @ Responsiv | Business, Risk, Partner Management

2 年

Firstly thanks for these thought snippets Andries Smit they always help the thinking early in the morning. Then to the topic. I so agree with you that the path we took when we look back is always presented far more simply then when we stood at the start. Sometimes there are simple solutions but in your problem here it starts with firstly understanding and not assuming what the problem is. I often see this in businesses, especially smaller ones, where founders and leaders are action oriented. They end up running from fire to fire because of this, but they do tend to become great firemen. Stopping and thinking, the space that is often referred to as strategy, is extremely misunderstood. The actual process is not as important as the fact you give yourself as a leader time to consider the data, and not just react to one data point. What feedback loops is there in your business? From staff. From clients. AND from competitors. By creating these you create a chance to understand the bigger picture a little more. When it comes to execution plans I believe should be simple. Execution is operational, and you need many people and moving bits, so the simpler it is the better the chance of success. And then iterate

Marisa Murton

Data Science Leader specialising in Insurance and Property data

2 年

You are absolutely right. We should still aspire to make things simple where possible but the fact of the matter is it often isn’t!

Mark Cameron

I help people find more time to do more of the value add work the customer wants them to do

2 年

I like simple solutions, but that doesn't mean easy or quick solutions. If you jump to a simple solution quickly it's probably the wrong one, think deeper and longer you may find another simple solution but a better one. In your example he may have had quick deliveries, but frequency means the customer isn't feeling that speed.

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