A new solution will always redefine the problem. F.W Johnson

This is a wonderful quote. And for the sake of disclosure I can tell you that the Johnson referred to here is sadly no relation to yours truly. He was one of the Johnson & Johnson brothers.

The reason we think this is such a powerful thought is that it emphasises the importance of context. Often, in the world of innovation, context is often overlooked.

Some methodologies in the innovation world use a combination of importance and satisfaction to identify a gap. And it is this gap which dictates where opportunity for value creation lies. No problems here, we strongly support the use of gap analysis of varying types.

The problem with these types of approaches is that it can lead organisations to assume:

1. that everyone you spoke to had the same knowledge of all available solutions, and
2. that they all lead exactly the same sort of lives.

We believe that while they may all share a similar level of satisfaction about an existing solution, their individual context will dramatically shape how they rate the importance of a need. Additionally, their exposure to new information about a need and the solutions available will dramatically change their context and hence, the level of importance they prescribe to a need.

As a result, these types of approaches need to be used carefully. While they can be used to identify broad themes, identifying specific needs in such a way without undertaking any analysis of context can result in disaster. The greatest example of this would be the Sony mini disc. A wonderful piece of innovation that put more tracks onto a smaller disc and which was rendered completely and totally irrelevant when the Mp3 player arrived. The introduction of the MP3 player has completely altered the problem ensuring that importance was extremely time specific.

Context is always changing. Ensuring that you understand the impact of context on your opportunity identification process is vital to delivering ‘real’ opportunities.

Michael R Johnson