The Last Mile of Innovation: A Novel About the Challenges of Delivering the Right Solutions to Those Who Need Them

This is the first in the People-Centric Innovation series. Inspired by the business fable format, this novel and the ones that follow will allow readers to experience the end-to-end journey of building something useful for the world up close.

This is a book for those who dream of creating solutions for real-world people. For those who see problems, challenges, and unmet needs out in the world and decide to do something about them. These people go into the proverbial lab to build a product or service, then bring it to the marketplace to let others buy it and use it to solve a problem they're having.

This journey from forming an idea to getting it in the hands of people who need it is not easy. Often, it can be lonely. The market is littered with fantastic products, both with and without technological elements. On the surface, the product can look fantastic or the service can be extraordinary. However, that is no guarantee of market success.

For those innovating and building something fantastic in the lab that meets a real human need, it can be very frustrating when the world doesn't blink an eye. Some may never hear about your solution, and others may pass it by because they don't understand its value. Or more particularly, its value to them at that particular time.

Startups face this all the time, struggling to break in through all the market noise, and even established companies face challenges around trying new things that may distract them from their existing successes.

So, what does it take to have an idea, create something new, and make it available for purchase? It has often been said, "If you build it, they will come." In many cases, that's not true.

Innovating for innovation's sake isn't the way. We must remain human in all of this. Our humanity must be expressed in the solutions we make available to the people we serve.

We must challenge companies when they lean more heavily into features than the value provided to people using their solutions to address their problems.

Mired in feature-itis, we can lose track of the most important fact. This solution is all designed to help real people.

In this novel, we will go on a journey with an innovator as he navigates all of the challenges that arise between identifying a problem and helping real people solve it. We will better understand the challenges of starting a business that builds the right thing, gets it into the hands of those who need it, and operates on a business model that offers just the right balance of flexibility and sustainability.

This is the story of an innovator on his journey to help someone who is trying to change the world.