I Dont Know How You Used the Wrong Formula
Reprint: R1209F The rigor with which a trouble is divers is the about of import factor in finding a skilful solution. Many organizations, all the same, are not proficient at articulating their problems and identifying which ones are crucial to their strategies. They may fifty-fifty be trying to solve the incorrect problems—missing opportunities and wasting resources in the process. The central is to ask the right questions. The author describes a process that his house, InnoCentive, has used to assistance clients define and articulate business, technical, social, and policy challenges and then present them to an online community of more than 250,000 solvers. The four-step process consists of asking a series of questions and using the answers to create a problem statement that volition arm-twist novel ideas from an array of experts. EnterpriseWorks/VITA, a nonprofit organisation, used this process to find a depression-cost, lightweight, and convenient product that expands admission to make clean drinking water in the developing world.
"If I were given 1 hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one infinitesimal resolving it," Albert Einstein said.
Those were wise words, only from what I have observed, virtually organizations don't mind them when tackling innovation projects. Indeed, when developing new products, processes, or even businesses, well-nigh companies aren't sufficiently rigorous in defining the bug they're attempting to solve and articulating why those bug are of import. Without that rigor, organizations miss opportunities, waste resources, and end upward pursuing innovation initiatives that aren't aligned with their strategies. How many times have you seen a project go down one path only to realize in hindsight that it should have gone downwards another? How many times have you seen an innovation program deliver a seemingly breakthrough upshot only to notice that it can't be implemented or it addresses the wrong problem? Many organizations demand to become meliorate at asking the right questions then that they tackle the right problems.
I offering here a process for defining problems that any arrangement can utilise on its own. My firm, InnoCentive, has used it to aid more than 100 corporations, authorities agencies, and foundations improve the quality and efficiency of their innovation efforts and, as a outcome, their overall operation. Through this process, which nosotros call challenge-driven innovation, clients define and articulate their business organization, technical, social, and policy bug and nowadays them as challenges to a customs of more than 250,000 solvers—scientists, engineers, and other experts who hail from 200 countries—on InnoCentive.com, our innovation marketplace. Successful solvers have earned awards of $5,000 to $1 one thousand thousand.
Since our launch, more than x years ago, we have managed more than than 2,000 problems and solved more than half of them—a much higher proportion than most organizations attain on their ain. Indeed, our success rates have improved dramatically over the years (34% in 2006, 39% in 2009, and 57% in 2011), which is a role of the increasing quality of the questions nosotros pose and of our solver community. Interestingly, even unsolved problems accept been tremendously valuable to many clients, assuasive them to abolish sick-blighted programs much earlier than they otherwise would have and then redeploy their resources.
In our early years, nosotros focused on highly specific technical problems, only nosotros accept since expanded, taking on everything from bones R&D and production development to the health and safe of astronauts to banking services in developing countries. Nosotros now know that the rigor with which a trouble is defined is the near important gene in finding a suitable solution. But we've seen that most organizations are not proficient at articulating their problems conspicuously and concisely. Many accept considerable difficulty fifty-fifty identifying which problems are crucial to their missions and strategies.
In fact, many clients have realized while working with the states that they may not be tackling the right problems. Consider a company that engages InnoCentive to notice a lubricant for its manufacturing machinery. This exchange ensues:
InnoCentive staffer: "Why do you lot demand the lubricant?"
Client's engineer: "Because we're now expecting our mechanism to do things it was not designed to do, and it needs a detail lubricant to operate."
InnoCentive staffer: "Why don't yous replace the machinery?"
Client's engineer: "Because no one makes equipment that exactly fits our needs."
This raises a deeper question: Does the company need the lubricant, or does information technology demand a new mode to make its product? It could be that rethinking the manufacturing process would requite the firm a new footing for competitive advantage. (Asking questions until you go to the root cause of a trouble draws from the famous Five Whys problem-solving technique developed at Toyota and employed in Six Sigma.)
The case is like many nosotros've seen: Someone in the bowels of the organisation is assigned to gear up a very specific, near-term problem. But considering the firm doesn't employ a rigorous procedure for understanding the dimensions of the problem, leaders miss an opportunity to address underlying strategic bug. The state of affairs is exacerbated by what Stefan Thomke and Donald Reinertsen have identified as the fallacy of "The sooner the project is started, the sooner information technology volition be finished." (Run across "Half-dozen Myths of Production Development," HBR May 2012.) Organizational teams speed toward a solution, fearing that if they spend too much time defining the problem, their superiors will punish them for taking so long to get to the starting line.
Ironically, that arroyo is more likely to waste matter time and money and reduce the odds of success than one that strives at the outset to achieve an in-depth understanding of the trouble and its importance to the house. With this in mind, we developed a four-step procedure for defining and articulating problems, which we have honed with our clients. Information technology consists of asking a serial of questions and using the answers to create a thorough problem statement. This process is important for 2 reasons. Outset, it rallies the organization around a shared understanding of the problem, why the firm should tackle it, and the level of resource it should receive. Firms that don't engage in this process oftentimes allocate too few resource to solving major problems or too many to solving depression-priority or wrongly defined ones. It's useful to assign a value to the solution: An organization will exist more willing to devote considerable time and resource to an effort that is shown to represent a $100 million marketplace opportunity than to an initiative whose value is much less or is unclear. Second, the procedure helps an system cast the widest possible net for potential solutions, giving internal and external experts in disparate fields the data they need to crack the problem.
This article also appears in:
To illustrate how the process works, we'll describe an initiative to expand admission to clean drinking h2o undertaken by the nonprofit EnterpriseWorks/VITA, a division of Relief International. EWV's mission is to foster economic growth and raise the standard of living in developing countries by expanding access to technologies and helping entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses.
The organization chose Jon Naugle, its technical director, as the initiative'southward "trouble champion." Individuals in this role should accept a deep understanding of the field or domain and exist capable program administrators. Because problem champions may also exist charged with implementing solutions, a proven leader with the authority, responsibleness, and resources to see the project through can be invaluable in this function, specially for a larger and more strategic undertaking. Naugle, an engineer with more than 25 years of agronomical and rural-development experience in E and Westward Africa and the Caribbean area, fit the bill. He was supported by specialists who understood local market conditions, available materials, and other critical issues related to the delivery of drinking water.
Step i: Establish the Need for a Solution
The purpose of this footstep is to articulate the trouble in the simplest terms possible: "We are looking for X in order to achieve Z as measured by W." Such a statement, akin to an elevator pitch, is a phone call to arms that clarifies the importance of the issue and helps secure resources to address information technology. This initial framing answers three questions:
What is the bones demand?
This is the essential problem, stated clearly and concisely. It is important at this stage to focus on the demand that's at the eye of the problem instead of jumping to a solution. Defining the scope is besides important. Clearly, looking for lubricant for a piece of machinery is different from seeking a radically new manufacturing process.
The basic need EWV identified was access to make clean drinking water for the estimated 1.ane billion people in the world who lack it. This is a pressing effect even in areas that have plenty of rainfall, considering the h2o is not effectively captured, stored, and distributed.
What is the desired outcome?
Answering this question requires understanding the perspectives of customers and other beneficiaries. (The V Whys approach can be very helpful.) Over again, avoid the temptation to favor a particular solution or approach. This question should be addressed qualitatively and quantitatively whenever possible. A high-level merely specific goal, such as "improving fuel efficiency to 100 mpg past 2020," can exist helpful at this stage.
In answering this question, Naugle and his team realized that the upshot had to be more access to water; the access had to exist user-friendly. Women and children in countries such as Uganda often must walk long distances to fetch water from valleys and and so carry information technology uphill to their villages. The desired effect EWV defined was to provide water for daily family needs without requiring enormous expenditures of time and free energy.
Who stands to benefit and why?
Answering this question compels an organisation to identify all potential customers and beneficiaries. Information technology is at this stage that y'all understand whether, say, y'all are solving a lubricant problem for the engineer or for the head of manufacturing—whose definitions of success may vary considerably.
If the problem you want to solve is industrywide, it's crucial to understand why the market has failed to address it.
By pondering this question, EWV came to see that the benefits would accrue to individuals and families also equally to regions and countries. Women would spend less time walking to retrieve water, giving them more than fourth dimension for working in the field or in exterior employment that would bring their families needed income. Children would be able to attend school. And over the longer term, regions and countries would benefit from the improved education and productivity of the population.
Step 2: Justify the Need
The purpose of answering the questions in this step is to explain why your organisation should attempt to solve the problem.
Is the effort aligned with our strategy?
In other words, will satisfying the need serve the organization'southward strategic goals? Information technology is non unusual for an organization to exist working on problems that are no longer in sync with its strategy or mission. In that case, the effort (and perhaps the whole initiative) should be reconsidered.
In the case of EWV, simply improving admission to clean drinking water wouldn't be enough; to fit the organization'due south mission, the solution should generate economical evolution and opportunities for local businesses. It needed to involve something that people would buy.
In add-on, yous should consider whether the trouble fits with your business firm's priorities. Since EWV's other projects included providing access to affordable products such equally cookstoves and treadle pumps, the drinking water project was appropriate.
What are the desired benefits for the company, and how will nosotros measure out them?
In for-profit companies, the desired benefit could be to accomplish a revenue target, attain a sure market share, or achieve specific cycle-fourth dimension improvements. EWV hoped to further its goal of being a recognized leader in helping the world's poor by transferring technology through the individual sector. That benefit would be measured by market impact: How many families are paying for the solution? How is it affecting their lives? Are sales and installation creating jobs? Given the potential benefits, EWV accounted the priority to exist high.
How will nosotros ensure that a solution is implemented?
Presume that a solution is found. Someone in the system must be responsible for conveying information technology out—whether that means installing a new manufacturing applied science, launching a new business organisation, or commercializing a production innovation. That person could be the problem champion, simply he or she could besides be the manager of an existing partitioning, a cross-functional team, or a new department.
At EWV, Jon Naugle was also put in charge of carrying out the solution. In add-on to his technical background, Naugle had a track tape of successfully implementing similar projects. For instance, he had served every bit EWV's country managing director in Niger, where he oversaw a component of a World Depository financial institution pilot project to promote small-scale private irrigation. His office of the projection involved getting the private sector to manufacture treadle pumps and manually drill wells.
Information technology is of import at this phase to initiate a loftier-level conversation in the system about the resources a solution might require. This can seem premature—later on all, you lot're still defining the trouble, and the field of possible solutions could be very big—but information technology's really not too early to begin exploring what resources your organization is willing and able to devote to evaluating solutions and then implementing the all-time one. Even at the beginning, you may have an inkling that implementing a solution volition be much more expensive than others in the arrangement realize. In that instance, information technology'southward important to communicate a crude estimate of the money and people that will be required and to make sure that the organization is willing to go on down this path. The issue of such a word might be that some constraints on resourcing must be built into the trouble statement. Early in its drinking h2o project, EWV set a cap on how much it would devote to initial inquiry and the testing of possible solutions.
Now that you have laid out the need for a solution and its importance to the system, you must define the problem in detail. This involves applying a rigorous method to ensure that you take captured all the information that someone—including people in fields far removed from your industry—might demand to solve the trouble.
Step iii: Contextualize the Trouble
Examining past efforts to observe a solution can save fourth dimension and resource and generate highly innovative thinking. If the problem is industrywide, it'south crucial to understand why the market place has failed to address it.
What approaches have we tried?
The aim hither is to find solutions that might already exist in your arrangement and identify those that information technology has disproved. By answering this question, you tin avoid reinventing the bike or going down a dead cease.
In previous efforts to expand admission to clean water, EWV had offered products and services ranging from manually drilled wells for irrigation to filters for household water treatment. As with all its projects, EWV identified products that depression-income consumers could beget and, if possible, that local entrepreneurs could industry or service. As Naugle and his team revisited those efforts, they realized that both solutions worked but if a water source, such as surface water or a shallow aquifer, was close to the household. As a effect, they decided to focus on rainwater—which falls everywhere in the world to a greater or lesser extent—as a source that could accomplish many more people. More specifically, the team turned its attention to the concept of rainwater harvesting. "Rainwater is delivered directly to the cease user," Naugle says. "Information technology's equally close equally you can get to a piped h2o organization without having a piped water supply."
What have others tried?
EWV's investigation of previous attempts at rainwater harvesting involved reviewing research on the topic, conducting five field studies, and surveying 20 countries to enquire what technology was existence used, what was and was not working, what prevented or encouraged the use of various solutions, how much the solutions price, and what function government played.
"I of the cardinal things we learned from the surveys," Naugle says, "was that one time yous have a hard roof—which many people do—to use equally a collection surface, the most expensive thing is storage."
Here was the problem that needed to be solved. EWV institute that existing solutions for storing rainwater, such as concrete tanks, were too expensive for low-income families in developing countries, so households were sharing storage tanks. But because no one took ownership of the communal facilities, they often savage into disrepair. Consequently, Naugle and his squad homed in on the concept of a low-toll household rainwater-storage device.
Their research into prior solutions surfaced what seemed initially like a promising approach: storing rainwater in a 525-gallon jar that was almost as tall equally an adult and iii times equally wide. In Thailand, they learned, 5 meg of those jars had been deployed over five years. Later further investigation, still, they establish that the jars were made of cement, which was available in Thailand at a low price. More than important, the country's good roads made information technology possible to manufacture the jars in one location and transport them in trucks around the country. That solution wouldn't work in areas that had neither cement nor high-quality roads. Indeed, through interviews with villagers in Uganda, EWV constitute that even empty polyethylene barrels large enough to hold simply fifty gallons of water were hard to comport along a path. It became clear that a viable storage solution had to be light enough to be carried some altitude in areas without roads.
What are the internal and external constraints on implementing a solution?
Now that you have a better idea of what you lot want to achieve, information technology'southward time to revisit the upshot of resources and organizational commitment: Do yous have the necessary support for soliciting so evaluating possible solutions? Are you sure that you can obtain the money and the people to implement the almost promising one?
External constraints are just as important to evaluate: Are in that location issues concerning patents or intellectual-property rights? Are there laws and regulations to exist considered? Answering these questions may require consultation with various stakeholders and experts.
Practise you have the necessary support for soliciting and evaluating possible solutions? Do you take the coin and the people to implement the most promising 1?
EWV'southward exploration of possible external constraints included examining government policies regarding rainwater storage. Naugle and his team constitute that the governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam supported the thought, but the strongest proponent was Uganda's minister of water and the environs, Maria Mutagamba. Consequently, EWV decided to test the storage solution in Republic of uganda.
Stride 4: Write the Problem Statement
At present it'south time to write a full description of the trouble yous're seeking to solve and the requirements the solution must run into. The trouble argument, which captures all that the arrangement has learned through answering the questions in the previous steps, helps establish a consensus on what a feasible solution would be and what resources would be required to reach information technology.
A total, clear description as well helps people both within and exterior the arrangement quickly grasp the effect. This is especially important considering solutions to complex problems in an industry or subject oftentimes come up from experts in other fields (meet "Getting Unusual Suspects to Solve R&D Puzzles," HBR May 2007). For example, the method for moving gummy oil from spills in Arctic and subarctic waters from collection barges to disposal tanks came from a chemist in the cement industry, who responded to the Oil Spill Recovery Institute's description of the problem in terms that were precise but not specific to the petroleum industry. Thus the institute was able to solve in a matter of months a challenge that had stumped petroleum engineers for years. (To read the institute's total problem statement, visit hbr.org/problem-statement1.)
Here are some questions that tin assistance you lot develop a thorough trouble argument:
Is the problem really many problems?
The aim hither is to drill down to root causes. Complex, seemingly insoluble bug are much more than outgoing when broken into discrete elements.
For EWV, this meant making it clear that the solution needed to be a storage product that individual households could beget, that was light plenty to be easily transported on poor-quality roads or paths, and that could be easily maintained.
What requirements must a solution meet?
EWV conducted extensive on-the-basis surveys with potential customers in Uganda to place the must-have versus the nice-to-take elements of a solution. (See the sidebar "Elements of a Successful Solution.") Information technology didn't matter to EWV whether the solution was a new device or an adaptation of an existing i. Besides, the solution didn't need to be one that could be mass-produced. That is, it could be something that local small-scale entrepreneurs could manufacture.
Experts in rainwater harvesting told Naugle and his squad that their target cost of $twenty was unachievable, which meant that subsidies would exist required. Just a subsidized product was against EWV'south strategy and philosophy.
Which trouble solvers should we engage?
The dead cease EWV hit in seeking a $twenty solution from those experts led the arrangement to conclude that information technology needed to enlist as many experts outside the field equally possible. That is when EWV decided to appoint InnoCentive and its network of 250,000 solvers.
What information and linguistic communication should the problem argument include?
To appoint the largest number of solvers from the widest diversity of fields, a trouble statement must meet the twin goals of being extremely specific simply not unnecessarily technical. It shouldn't contain manufacture or field of study jargon or presuppose noesis of a particular field. It may (and probably should) include a summary of previous solution attempts and detailed requirements.
With those criteria in mind, Naugle and his team crafted a problem statement. (The following is the abstract; for the total problem argument, visit hbr.org/problem-statement2.) "EnterpriseWorks is seeking design ideas for a low-cost rainwater storage system that can exist installed in households in developing countries. The solution is expected to facilitate admission to clean water at a household level, addressing a problem that affects millions of people worldwide who are living in impoverished communities or rural areas where access to clean water is express. Domestic rainwater harvesting is a proven engineering that can be a valuable option for accessing and storing h2o year circular. However, the high toll of bachelor rainwater storage systems makes them well across the reach of low-income families to install in their homes. A solution to this trouble would not simply provide convenient and affordable admission to scarce water resources but would too allow families, particularly the women and children who are usually tasked with h2o collection, to spend less time walking distances to collect water and more time on activities that can bring in income and improve the quality of life."
To engage the largest number of solvers from the widest variety of fields, a problem statement must meet the twin goals of beingness extremely specific simply not unnecessarily technical.
What do solvers need to submit?
What information about the proposed solution does your organization need in order to invest in it? For example, would a well-founded hypothetical approach be sufficient, or is a full-diddled prototype needed? EWV decided that a solver had to submit a written explanation of the solution and detailed drawings.
What incentives do solvers need?
The point of request this question is to ensure that the right people are motivated to accost the problem. For internal solvers, incentives can be written into job descriptions or offered equally promotions and bonuses. For external solvers, the incentive might be a cash award. EWV offered to pay $15,000 to the solver who provided the best solution through the InnoCentive network.
How will solutions be evaluated and success measured?
Addressing this question forces a company to be explicit about how it volition evaluate the solutions information technology receives. Clarity and transparency are crucial to arriving at viable solutions and to ensuring that the evaluation procedure is fair and rigorous. In some cases a "we'll know it when nosotros see it" approach is reasonable—for case, when a company is looking for a new branding strategy. Most of the time, however, it is a sign that earlier steps in the process accept not been approached with sufficient rigor.
EWV stipulated that it would evaluate solutions on their power to run across the criteria of low cost, high storage capacity, low weight, and like shooting fish in a barrel maintenance. It added that it would prefer designs that were modular (so that the unit would be easier to ship) and adaptable or salvageable or had multiple functions (so that owners could reuse the materials subsequently the product'due south lifetime or sell them to others for diverse applications). The overarching goal was to keep costs low and to assistance poor families justify the purchase.
The Winner
Ultimately, the solution to EWV'south rainwater-storage problem came from someone exterior the field: a German inventor whose company specialized in the blueprint of tourist submarines. The solution he proposed required no elaborate machinery; in fact, information technology had no pumps or moving parts. It was an established industrial engineering that had not been applied to water storage: a plastic bag within a plastic bag with a tube at the top. The outer purse (fabricated of less-expensive, woven polypropylene) provided the structure's strength, while the inner bag (made of more-expensive, linear depression-density polyethylene) was impermeable and could concur 125 gallons of water. The ii-bag arroyo allowed the inner pocketbook to exist thinner, reducing the cost of the product, while the outer bag was strong plenty to comprise a ton and a one-half of water.
The structure folded into a packet the size of a briefcase and weighed about eight pounds. In short, the solution was affordable, commercially feasible, could be easily transported to remote areas, and could be sold and installed past local entrepreneurs. (Retailers make from $4 to $8 per unit of measurement, depending on the volume they purchase. Installers of the gutters, downspout, and base earn about $6.)
EWV developed an initial version and tested it in Uganda, where the organisation asked end users such questions as What do yous retrieve of its weight? Does it run into your needs? Even mundane problems similar color came into play: The woven outer bags were white, which women pointed out would immediately wait dingy. EWV modified the design on the basis of this input: For case, it changed the color of the device to brown, expanded its size to 350 gallons (while keeping the target price of no more $20 per 125 gallons of water storage), altered its shape to arrive more than stable, and replaced the original siphon with an outlet tap.
After 14 months of field testing, EWV rolled out the commercial production in Uganda in March 2011. By the stop of May 2012, 50 to threescore shops, village sales agents, and cooperatives were selling the product; more than than 80 entrepreneurs had been trained to install it; and 1,418 units had been deployed in eight districts in southwestern Uganda.
EWV deems this a success at this stage in the rollout. It hopes to brand the units available in 10 countries—and have tens or hundreds of thousands of units installed—within five years. Ultimately, it believes, millions of units will exist in use for a diverseness of applications, including household drinking water, irrigation, and construction. Interestingly, the principal obstacle to getting people to buy the device has been skepticism that something that comes in such a small package (the size of a typical five-gallon jerrican) can hold the equivalent of lxx jerricans. Believing that the remedy is to prove villagers the installed product, EWV is currently testing various promotion and marketing programs.As the EWV story illustrates, critically analyzing and clearly articulating a problem can yield highly innovative solutions. Organizations that apply these simple concepts and develop the skills and discipline to enquire better questions and ascertain their problems with more rigor can create strategic reward, unlock truly groundbreaking innovation, and bulldoze better business performance. Asking better questions delivers amend results.
A version of this article appeared in the September 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Source: https://hbr.org/2012/09/are-you-solving-the-right-problem
0 Response to "I Dont Know How You Used the Wrong Formula"
Post a Comment