Looking for a new insight on a problem? Not up there!

...They say about Newton that he first thought of his system of gravitation when he was hit by an apple falling from a tree.

Well, solutions, ideas for problems in business are not coming by looking up there!

Best ideas in business are born after a messy journey that in essence has one goal: to try to live with the problem from all possible angles, so that you can reach a new insight! This new insight is the new perspective you bring on the problem.

It all sounds common sense, and to some extent, it is. The secret, however is that it takes time, patience and trust in the process... 

If you live with the problem, absorbed by it - with curiosity, personal experience - one day it dawns on you, the way to go!

When I started writing this short story about the subject - the problem - my mind ran wild, with no focus, with several stories to share: the first time I got funding so I could finish my studies, or when I designed the efficient solutions to run big scale below the line activities, or designing new innovation pipe line in laundry or telco industry. This stream of stories, woke up in me one thing - the chaos of searching a problem - which is a messy, hectic and alive process.

The most memorable experiences for me were when I lived with consumers. I recall various places - a village in Transylvania, or  a small, cramped apartment in Moscow or being taught by a Brazilian woman in Sao Paolo to do the laundry out in the air... Living in customers’ shoes is the best way to feel their pains, struggles... and reach that new insight!

Once you have the new perspective, this gives you an amazing drive to build the solution - unique, powerful, DIFFERENT!

To best describe the energy behind the new insight - it is when you feel immense joy in your stomach. That’s when you know you hit the jackpot. A new light is shed on the problem. 

What is funny, is that it always comes unexpectedly, after multiple iterations of looking, questioning. learning about the subject.

Back to you, the start up. What do you do to understand the problem you are trying to solve? 

• Talk with, customers,
• Do you do online research? 
• Do you participate in events?
• Do you try the existing solutions?
• Do you look at global trends?

See the 7 Points - for the structure, the questions and practice you can make for your start up.