Innovation in reverse

Two automotive innovations have melted my mind today. The first was from one of our spotters – thank you, Antonello Schiavo – about news that Audi was rolling out GLOSA (Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory) to its cars in several cities in the US. No big deal. This is only what I've dreamed of every time I've sat behind the wheel staring at a red light. A system where your car communicates with the infrastructure around it and then advises you on the precise speed to drive to catch a green traffic light. Oh man. The treasured, yet elusive green streak. What a time to be alive. I mean it!

Thanks to Audi I finally have the perfect use case for the Internet of Things I can reference to excite even the most hardened of IoT skeptics. @internetofshit be dammed. We all know how good the green streak feels. OK, those pesky kids who don't drive and take Lyfts everywhere while streaming Fortnite and vaping out the windows don't know. But the rest of us do. My heart beats faster just thinking about hitting endless greens. And of course – in spite of our animal instinct that tells us to go go go as fast as we can all the time – sometimes you've got to slow down to catch those greens.

Speaking of slowing down... the second innovation is Volvo's announcement today that it will limit all of its vehicles to 112 MPH starting next year. This ties back to brand's Zero Fatality mission to eliminate ALL road deaths by 2020. Volvo are always working to save lives, you might say. What's so mind melting about that? Yes, it's one small step as part of their broader strategy. But what delights me about this is the shift that has occurred in the industry. In the 20th century automakers competed to deliver the fastest cars possible. In the 21st century you compete by slowing them down.

Has a similar shift has already occurred in your industry? Has a change in culture or in the marketplace made it necessary to slow down and even reverse your direction of travel? One parallel that comes to mind would be Big Tech recognizing the havoc their pursuit of user engagement has caused. Now, in pursuit of 'digital wellbeing' they're all working on innovative ways to help users disengage. I will save the debate on whether the screentime pop-ups help or it's all just PR (screenwashing) for another post.

Another famous example of innovation in reverse? In 2011, when Patagonia broke from the Black Friday crowd of retailers screaming for our attention, stampeding through the glass doors with deals! deals! deals! pushing us to buy more stuff. In the eight years since Patagonia ran the Don't Buy This Jacket ad, its anti-growth strategy has been widely adopted and the brand has moved on to new battles.

Maybe the weak signals of another shift are out there in your category. Maybe you and your competitors are all working on the wrong metric. Maybe you are working on the right metric in the wrong direction.

Bonus (unrelated) point: a third thing melted my mind today, but it was for Vans shoes, not vehicles. Meme-enthusiasts brace yourselves: Vans = Cats.