I have the good fortune to work with very talented engineers who have lots of cool ideas and the ability to solve really tough problems. My job is to help them turn those terrific solutions into products that have
commercial value, and that’s not easy. Why? Because a lot of these highly trained engineers are better at solutions than they are at problems, which is a problem in itself because entrepreneurship and new product development are all about having a deep understanding of problems.
I bet you never thought of entrepreneurship in that way, but the truth is businesses exist to deal with the problems customers have, whether it’s the need to be able to do your work from anywhere (laptops, mobile phones, 4G, etc.) or deal with a chronic disease (drugs, diagnostics, etc.). So the ability to identify and understand real problems is an essential skill that engineers and others must develop if they’re going to come up with solutions that have commercial value.
I can hear all my engineer friends out there saying, “Hey, I spend my day finding problems and solving them.” That’s true, but typically that process involves structured problem solving that gets you to convergence on a solution very quickly. That may work well in some situations, but it’s not terribly effective when it comes to commercial solutions that have to meet a real customer need.
I’m talking about spending more time on the problem before you even begin to consider how to solve it. Why is this important? Because sometimes, if you don’t ask the right question, you won’t address the right problem, and asking the right question is an iterative process.
Here’s an example:
Initial problem statement: We don’t have enough lab space.
Restatement: There are too many people for the space we have.
Restatement: How can we reduce the number of people we have?
Restatement: How can we use the space we have more effectively?
There are many other ways you could restate this problem, but the point is that in looking at the problem from many different perspectives, you’ll discover the greatest source of pain and potentially the greatest opportunity. Once you have listed all your problem restatements, try asking why multiple times after each one.
We need more lab space? Why? Because we don’t have room for all our researchers. Then ask why again and again until the real problem emerges.
In this case, the entrepreneur discovered that the real problem wasn’t space it all; it was the need to get the product finished by a certain deadline. To do that, she figured that she had to hire more people, but she didn’t have room for them. What she ended up doing was partnering with another lab and that led to bigger opportunities for her company without having to spend any more money on physical space.
Next time you think you have a fantastic idea for a new product or a new business, ask yourself if you’ve spent enough time understanding the problem that generated the idea. In the process, you just might discover a way to make that opportunity even better than you thought!
This might be the reason why an engineer would better partner with a business-minded person rather than try to be both. Do you think engineers might go business alone?
Some engineers have acquired substantial business knowledge and could lead their companies; however, if their real value is their engineering capabilities, it might make more sense to partner with a business person you trust and work together.