Innovation means robust industry, but these industries aren’t that robust.
Innovation is the lifeblood of any industry, but some industries, to be polite, have more energy than others. Too often, the story of innovation is somebody has a breakthrough, everybody imitates that innovation, and then the entire industry sits and waits for another innovator to come along. That can be a long time coming, and some industries have been waiting too long.
Farming
Every day, we learn about fascinating new innovations in natural design, geoengineering, and agronomy — the places where the rubber meets the road between abstract science and making actual food that we eat. But you’d think, in farming, that all scientific innovation stopped when Reagan took office. With threats like climate change, genetic tools like CRISPR/Cas9, changing diets in the developed world, and growing need for more, and better food, innovation needs to arrive fast in how we grow and process our food.
Cable Television
Cable TV’s problem is simple. They taught us all to buy our TV in bulk, accepting we’d never watch it all but taking the loss to get what we do want to see for much cheaper. And now internet streaming services are beating them at their own game, selling TV in bulk for much cheaper. Networks are already feeling the squeeze; and as bad as they think it is, there’s a lot more money to lose, if they don’t start giving customers what they want.
For Sale By Owner
In real estate sales, there are four letters that give experts and realtors a rueful chuckle: FSBO, or For Sale By Owner. While the real estate industry itself doesn’t exactly embrace the cutting edge of technology and design, you’d think FSBO sales would be a different matter. And yet, there are few realistic tools handy for people who want to sell their house and not deal with the MLS. Considering the value of real estate, and the fact that there are going to be a lot of houses on the market with few buyers in the near future, innovation should show up sooner rather than later.
Too many industries are being left behind.
Construction
There will be a huge wave of remodeling as businesses close retail outlets, Baby Boomers “age in place,” and companies rapidly green their buildings. And there are a lot of tools, most notably the proliferation of AR glasses and programs that work perfectly with CAD software, that construction companies should be working with now. And yet, they don’t, costing their clients millions and setting back schedules by months or even years. Why?
Cars
There’s far more to a shift in vehicles than just self-driving cars and electric cars. Governments are working on vehicle-to-vehicle standards, which allow cars to communicate with both static features like signs on the road and with each other to avoid accidents, collect data, and shake up traffic. And yet, the closest we’ve gotten to that is Waze. Why aren’t car companies designing these systems now?
We offer up these examples to underscore that innovation is not about what you see in the headlines and what draws attention. It’s about finding problems, sometimes problems nobody realizes we have, and fixing them. To get started on your innovation journey, join our newsletter.
