How to Embrace Chaos by Navigating the “The Squiggle”
Throughout my career, I have rarely seen innovation unfold on a singular direct path. Realistically it typically occurs on a wild, oscillating, looping, journey that includes fun yet exhausting twists and turns that eventually normalize over time.
In other words, innovation looks like a squiggle.
“The Squiggle” is a simple illustration by Damian Newman of legendary innovation lab IDEO depicting the journey of researching market needs, uncovering insights, generating creative concepts, iterating prototypes, and creating a market-accepted solution.
Strategically navigating The Squiggle is the key to success or failure.
In the movie “The Martian”, Dr. Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is an astronaut who becomes separated from his team and stranded on Mars due to an inclement weather event. In the final scene of the movie, he artfully summarize how he and NASA conquered The Squiggle to return him to earth:
Specifically, Mark Watney says:
”Now, you can either give up, or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... then you solve the next one. And then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home.”
Fortunately for us, we in the healthcare industry are not trying to survive space travel. But we do face real day-to-day challenges and have to overcome them anyway. Staying focused on achieving these goals can be hard, confusing, and daunting at times. But as Mark Watney says: “You just begin. And if you solve enough problems, you get to go home.”
Where would you plot yourself or your company on The Squiggle today? And more importantly, what’s the the first problem you need to solve to move forward. And the next. And then the next.
That’s where I come in. I’m here to help solve your biggest and most complex healthcare growth and marketing problems. Let’s connect and work together to break down your problems and achieve your vision, one step at a time.
