A recurring theme in my daily thoughts is whether a new idea is a) genuine innovation solving a problem or b) simply a new way of doing something that is needlessly revisiting an older problem that has already been solved. Education is often a perfect example; every three years, some think tank in upstate New York introduces a new way to teach students how to multiply when the established ways were working, well, just fine. This isn't innovation; it's just un-solving a problem that previously was solved and gloating when the new-and-improved solution is revealed. It's blindly questioning the status quo not realizing the status quo is a remedy for the problem in itself.
Another perfect example is corporate org structures. The same companies that mandate beanbag usage and keep IPAs on tap in the office often try to reinvent the corporate ladder, racing to see whose can be completely flat first. In reality, so many companies still use hierarchical corporate org structures because, quite frankly, they work.
Pitching a solution as "new" does not automatically qualify it as "better." In fact, by chasing "new" rather than "better," you're probably secretly re-unraveling problems that were already tied up with a bow eons ago.
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