…is that it hardly ever provides a solution to the fundamental problem. You’re merely chasing a symptom.
Case in point: upon boarding my return flight at NBO yesterday I found that security on flights to Amsterdam had intensified strongly. The reason was obvious: some crazy Nigerian guy trying to bomb the US was also on a flight to Amsterdam. So you do an anal cavity search on every living thing going to Amsterdam.
Right.
Obviously, this reaction is solving very little. It encumbers travelers even more, while the next bomber will just get on a flight to London or Brussels where no-one is paying attention as usual.
There are not many situations that will actually require you to react right there and then. Usually, you’ve got some time to lose. You can breathe and think. So when an issue turns up on your doorstep, why not ask yourself what’s really causing it, rather than immediately pointing at the superficially obvious?
Even better: go through your own system (product, service, whatever) and find the bugs. Preempt the failure.
Why wait for it to come to you and put you on the spot?
PS. No Riks were hurt in the making of this article. I did not really receive a cavity search. My nail clipper and tweezers, loyal companions for 10s of thousands of miles, were to remain in Nairobi however.
Rik is one of the founders of Klatergoud.
He's the marketing director of Intivation, a technology company that develops solar powered consumer devices, and a graduate of Delft University of Technology with degrees in Applied Physics and Strategic Product Design.
He writes about entrepreneurship, design, business concepts, innovation and marketing.
Rik loves his iPhone, the Eagles of Death Metal, things Tom Ford makes, bespoke suits, and Jack Daniels and he hates a rainy day.
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