"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Scope: The Power of Zero
Solve a problem for one person. Then add zeroes.
Paul Polak via Nextbillion;
4. think and act big – don’t do anything that can’t reach a million people
This statement reminded me of something I learned years ago: the power of Zero. The human mind has the amazing ability to conceive of things of any scale or scope. On one extreme, we have scientists analyzing data from the furthest galaxies, trying to determine the composition of their stars based on light that has traveled billions of light years. On the other extreme, we have the men and women at CERN using the Large Hadron Collider to search for elusive subatomic particles. (And right here in the U.S. we have similar work being done at Fermilab)
What separates the work being done in astrophysics from that of particle physics? A wh*** lot of zeroes.
The same idea can be applied to business, innovation, entrepreneurship, and social change. It all hinges on one question:
What do I need to do to add another zero?
If I have a product being sold in ten cities, what are the logistics I need to overcome to sell it in 100 cities? How much more factory floor time do I need? What new distribution and shipping channels do I need to embrace? If I'm only selling in major metropolitan areas right now, how large must a city be to make the new 100 cutoff? Do I need to look at other states?
Now let's bump it up to 1000. Better yet, 10000 cities. What do you need to consider when dealing internationally? How many countries will you work in? Will it be limited to anglophone countries, or will you be facing language barriers?
Innovation is easier than you think. Start with solving a problem for one person.
Once you solve a problem for one person, just keep adding zeroes.
Pretty soon, you'll be asking yourself "what can I do differently to solve this problem for 1,000,000 people?"
Views: 38
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Comment by wesley mack on March 31, 2010 at 1:27pm
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sounds like math i can understand a mission statement one could lead by.
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Comment by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 31, 2010 at 2:03pm
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+1 Entrepreneurship. Start small but aim for the stars.
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Comment by Turil Cronburg on March 31, 2010 at 2:15pm
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And I'd add:
Innovation is easier than you think. Start with solving a problem for one person. And since you have far more control of yourself, make that one person you solve a problem for yourself. :-)
Begin where you are.
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