097: How to Find Your Perfect Problem with Jim McKelvey, author of The Innovation Stack (Part One)
How can you find — and attempt the great feat of solving — your perfect problem? That’s what I’m talking about today with my guest, Square co-founder Jim McKelvey. His book, The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time, is one of the funniest and most engaging business books I’ve read. We met at TED through our mutual friend Jon Levy, and had the great joy of recording together in person at a studio in midtown Manhattan. In the first half of this two-part episode, we delve into fending off an attack from “the perfect predator” of competition, Amazon.
More About Jim: Jim McKelvey is a glassblower, father, entrepreneur, author, aviator, computer programmer, chairman of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and inventor, and that is just scratching the surface. As for where to connect? As he puts it, “Please don’t ask me to connect on Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram. I’m not there. I’ve got better things to do. And frankly, so do you.”
“People who want to build something new often feel they lack sufficient expertise. Their assertion is correct, but not complete. The same lack of expertise applies to everyone on the planet. Innovation has no experts.” —Jim McKelvey
🌟 3 Key Takeaways:
No expert has to tell you that something is a problem, you just know. A real problem is obvious.
A perfect problem is one that excites you, has never been solved, and with enough work and the right team, can be solved by you.
Change and innovation is messy, which means that great solutions are usually many tiny solutions that all work together.
💌 Permission: Charge people for your time, and bill for your attention.
✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: Be an observer this week: what problems are consuming your energy and attention, perhaps with a zing of excitement and possibility`? Could you be in a unique position to solve them?
📘 Books Mentioned:
Resources Mentioned:
Jim on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn
Video: VICE special on 🐍 Burmese Pythons in the Everglades
Related Podcast Episodes: 043: From Start-Up to Grown-up (and Coach to Author) with Alisa Cohn
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