Learners, I'm happy to be joined by Lorenzo Swank. Lorenzo, good to see you again. >> Pleased to be here. >> For the benefit of our learners, can you please introduce yourself? >> As you said, my name is Lorenzo Swank. I started a software mobile consulting company about ten years ago called Fixio. We've taken a lot of time to polish our craft and then use the tools that we have to be able to help other people in other fields make quantum leaps in what they're doing. >> Very good. I'm sure you know that this course is about both cross country as well and cross industry innovation. So let me start off by asking you why you think cross industry innovation is soimportant nowadays? >> It's really for me about whether we make a mere evolutionary leap or a revolutionary leap in whatever it is we're doing. Are we going to add another 8GB of ram to our new smart phone? Or are we going to come up with a concept that people think this isn't the smartphone I knew before. This is amazing. It enables me to do so many more things. >> So to be revolutionary then, that is where you have to outsource from outside the industry. >> This gives you the opportunity to fertilize your own field or pollinate your own field with material from other industries. That's the best way I think I could describe it. >> Okay, understood, can you give us some examples? >> I think one of the most shining examples that we've seen in the last few years has been telemedicine. >> Okay. >> And I don't just mean telemedicine where doctors are operating by remote control, and by robot. Some of that's actually pretty scary still, at this point. But I mean the idea that you can pull your smart phone out in the United States, push a button and be conversing with your doctor one on one. You don't have to go to the clinic and they can take care of getting you a prescription right there. Or if they really need, you can come into the office. This isn't something that was possible five years ago, this isn't something that was possible ten years ago. This is amazing. >> Fantastic example. Okay, what is the procedure, if you can call it that, that you follow when you are outsourcing solutions from another industry? >> We're a little special, I think, in that people often come to us with an idea that they already have. We're in such and such field, we want to solve this problem, and we're going to solve it in this way. And so when someone comes to us like that, often times, they don't have the same depth of experience with the technology as we do. And so they're coming to us saying, please be our consultants. The first thing we need to do is go back and look at their assumptions. We try and find out what's the problem they are really trying to solve? And does the solution they propose fit that solution or is it simply adding unnecessary layers on top of what they want to do? >> Okay, so we were talking about outsourcing from other industries. And the industries that we have covered and the specialization, or b to c marketing, e to d marketing, hospitality, healthcare, sports and entertainment. So as you can see they are in some cases somewhat related, but in others, not. So based on your experience, what are the benefits of bench marking related for similar industries? But also during the same thing for really different of what. >> Similar industries do provide a more easy or relate to source of inspiration if you will. >> Okay. >> So, I know this isn't one of your target fields but mining. >> Okay, mining? >> A lot of our clients, surprisingly, are in mining. >> Okay. >> And so if a mining company wants to do something in particular way, >> Yeah. >> Then we might be able to take that and go from the gold mining area to the mineral mining area. >> RIght. >> A lot of these people have, a lot of these fields have huge overlap particularly in safety. >> Okay. >> And so we could take those things from these related fields and move just a little bit over to the side in construction. >> So just to, sorry for interrupting, what do you mentioned before, the assumptions usually hold true then? If they're similar. >> If they're similar most of the assumptions will hold true, but also remember that each business is often very much siloed. So, you will have human resources in any large business, and you'll have operations in any large business. The specifics are different. >> Okay >> The specifics, the details are of course very different. >> But the general assumptions are similar. >> But the general assumptions often hold, surprisingly well. >> Okay. And conversely then, what are the limitations of bench marking similar industry, and therefore which encourages you to go really Into far flung industries, to learn new things. >> There is a difficulty where you might be trying to force a fit. And this is a great in the smartphone industry to see. I love the book The Best Interface Is No Interface. They use the example In the book of unlocking your car. And is this something that you need a smartphone application to do? Whereas, you can just take your key out of your pocket, stick it in the hole, turn it and open the door. Is it really an improvement to have six or seven screens and the process of taking your phone out of your pocket. It's not. And when initially companies want to try and do this, they said it's a smartphone. Everyone has sa smart phone. You don't have to carry your keys. But it made people's life more difficult. >> Okay, you mentioned before the need to assess your assumptions and in a belated thing to define the problem, why is that such an important first step, defining your problem? >> If you're not solving the right problem then, again, you're force fitting something where it can't go. You're not improving someone's life. You're not creating an operational efficiency or you are not creating that necessary quantum leap, that revolutionary next step that you really want to deliver to your customers. >> And so the problem definition, does that hold true for every situation or does that problem have to be redefined? >> Most often we find because people are such specialists in their own fields, that when they go to borrow something from another field they need to be holding hands with someone in that field. It needs to be a discussion, it is a collaborative effort. Trying to do this on your own on the large scale is, I don't want to say it's folly, but certainly fraught with peril. It is definitely difficult. >> So the way to redefine problem is through collaboration. >> Exactly. >> Okay. Very good. Brilliant. Okay, so if we're talking problem, then we also have to talk solutions, and solutions lead to technology. And this is where maybe it gets really hairy in terms of marrying technologies across industries. How is that done based on your experience? >> It's all about removing unnecessary layers, really about moving, removing the unnecessary layers. So if I go back to the car example for, that's a great example that is used in that book, The Best Interface is No Interface. Because the layers there that they've added are the screens. There's your home screen, there's the icon at the first screen of the application. You're trying to find the button that says unlock in the application and it's hidden somewhere. These are layers upon layers upon layers, and the solution for that was to actually get rid of all those screens. To get rid of the smart phone and instead to make your key have a little sensor in it, and your door have a sensor. So, when you approach the car, the car would unlock automatically. That's removing all of those layers, there still communication between an object and the car. But this time it doesn't have to go through your cellphone tower, to a central server and back. It doesn't have to have user interaction anymore than your original set of keys did. >> It almost seems as if you're suggesting that you have to be very focused on what the original problem is or was and to then simplify the solution >> Exactly, that is exactly where I'm going with this. In fact I think the most important thing there to realize is there is a danger in trying to cross fertilize from other industries. And it's bringing over too much. You're trying to bring the core, just the essence of the idea over oftentimes. That's the thing that will be the seed that will allow you go grow a whole new idea in your field >> Thank you, Lorenzo. This has been very insightful. I am sure our learnershave learned quite a bit.
