How To Breed An Innovative Business Idea — #28 of 31 Proven Skills [Research]
Skill #28 Prevent the Problem Cause from Having the Undesired Effect
The usual trajectory followed by a problem is that once its cause is activated, that cause proceeds to deliver a negative effect. Often it is not possible to do much about the cause. When this is the situation, a logical innovative approach is to intervene and ‘prevent’ the untouchable cause from delivering its usual result
Instantaneous person-to-person communication via smartphones has enabled many innovative strategies that are pre-emptive in nature. As such, they are perfect for ensuring that identified problems do not deliver their usual harm even though the problem itself is still extant. Smartphones are particularly useful in warning about risk.
The insurance industry was quick to seize the opportunity smartphones presented. Storms are naturally occurring disasters and are a reality for insurance businesses. What a storm eventually costs previously depended almost solely on the intensity of the storm and the amount of damage caused, even though there was foreknowledge of when it was bearing down and where. An insurance company now blends this awareness with the instantaneous, direct-to-customer communications ability of the smartphone and recommends by SMS to property and vehicle owners that they take specific actions to defend their assets and themselves from an impending storm. The storm still runs its course but, in a demonstration of Skill #28 Prevent the Problem from Having the Undesired Effect, its effect is prevented to the extent that people act in their own interests to protect what is theirs.
Like Skill #27 Avoid the Undesired Effect of a Problem Cause, which works in an environment where both the problem and its effect are still real but are avoided, Skill #28 also contends with both the problem and its effect. However, crucially, it separates them and prevents the effect from being a natural consequence of the problem cause.
The various skills for tackling problems are part of 31 personal innovative skills that have emerged from research into thousands of successful business ideas and how they came into being.
Other Examples of Preventing Causes from Having Effects
Despite the many impressive advances in medical treatment, ongoing intervention is often still required. For instance, although the insertion of metal stents in narrowed human arteries is frequently a life-saving procedure, over time they need to be replaced because the artery contracts around them. An innovative initiative involving the addition of a coating to the metal stents inhibits such contraction for an extended period of time and effectively prevents the usual impairment of the stents, resulting in massive patient benefits.
A common problem faced by businesses is the loss of valuable knowledge and expertise when long-term employees finally retire, and the costs that arise due to the inexperience of those who succeed them. To prevent this from happening, a postal organization reaches an arrangement with those approaching retirement whereby they retire ‘gradually’, reducing their workdays on a progressive basis until they reach zero. During the fewer days in which they operate, they shadow and guide their replacements, preventing many costly mistakes from occurring.
Although it may not be possible to stop a problem from occurring, it is not necessarily a fait accompli. The problem cause may be ‘in play’ but the effect is a legitimate target. Familiarity with its trajectory provides options for innovatively preventing it from doing damage.
Takeaway
*Thousands of categorized innovative business ideas can be found at Sebir.com
