the mother of all innovation (re-edited)
May 13, 2008
Image via WikipediaThey say that necessity is the mother of all invention.
(later edit, kudos to Paula) But is necessity the mother of all innovation?
Not necessarily.
I would suggest that necessity is neither the mother of all invention, nor is it the mother of innovation. Let's take a two pronged approach.
- Innovation often presents solutions to problems we never knew we had. To invent is to create something new.
- Necessity drives solution finding, not innovation nor invention.
Solutions need not be groundbreaking to be useful. The answer to your challenge may not be in new technologies, but in making progress by moving backwards to identify an end game solution.
For example, take the situation with Hezbollah.
In an effort to jam Hezbollah's field communications, Israel jams Hezbollah's cell phones. For most enemies, this would present a technical problem, to be solved by a technologist.
A technologist may look to create a new type of radio, a stronger cell transmission, or another form of wireless communication.
Hezbollah's solution? Going back to physical wired communications, laying fiber lines for all communications in the field.
Sometimes the toughest technical challenges can be overcome by gaining context. Hezbollah understood their unique situation, and made the tactical decision to use their home territory to their advantage, laying cables where Israeli and Lebanese troops do not want to go - into Hezbollah controlled territory.
I try to avoid politics, but to me this is more than politics.
Here's to hoping that the good guys win.