I loved your article, Paul!

I came to add a perspective and Douglas Laney brought it before me. (Thank you for that!)

I think about this recently:

In my discipline (Design) we are shaped to think that we solve problems. A very common saying is: “A designer’s job is to solve problems”. *

But few people (that I've met, at least) have the structure, experience and mental models to work with opportunities.

So when a problem arises, voilà! You know (basically) how to deal with him.

But when an opportunity arises… Well, how do you deal with it?

People struggled a lot with this.

The default thought is: “Let’s do it and see what happens.”

There is even some discussion about experimentation, but without a clear structure on how to follow it. Example: Have a definition of success, duration of the experiment, premises that need to be true and clear; how to deal with tight deadlines.

And notice that I used “opportunities” and not “innovation” — simply because we don’t necessarily need to innovate or do something new. And just work on something relevant that will bring a noticeable benefit.

Thank you both for sharing!

* That's why today I say that Designers' job is to meet needs :)