The Hidden Information We Strive For is Buried WithinOne thing for sure: modern society gathers and stores more data per second than just one generation prior did in a lifetime.
A generation ago, none of the following were commonplace:
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Piles of invoices look different than they did a few years ago when paper cuts were a much bigger risk. These days, invoices often arrive via email as PDF files. Spitfire Project Management System includes some features that date back a decade and were originally designed to handle TIFF files from network scanners. We don’t think about this feature too often, but it can still offer significant workflow benefits today.
Sales recently shared the needs of a prospect who wants to process a pile of around a hundred invoices and supporting documents a day basically twice, making two passes through the pile. We told the prospect about our solution, which apparently thrilled them enough that they asked if they could start using it “tomorrow.”
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Here at Spitfire Management, we love to listen to our clients’ needs. It’s the first step in a process: first listen, then address the need, and finally write a “You asked for It, You Got It” article for our client newsletter! But, sometimes, what we hear is very muddled because of the XY Problem.
Concisely put, the XY Problem syndrome is when people talk about their attempted solution rather than the actual business need. That is to say, there is an initial problem (X), and the person who tries to fix that problem thinks of a solution (Y), but then runs into a problem with that solution so seeks help from someone else by asking about how to make that solution work instead of asking about the original problem.
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Heat is a problem. If you’ve ever actually tried to use a laptop on your lap for an extended period while it was rendering real time 3D images you have experienced the problem first hand (and first lap). Computers, car engines, battery charging, air conditioning. Hey, it’s global warming: we are surrounded by heat producing technology.
Meanwhile, what seems more science fiction than a freeze ray? But researchers are making progress with laser cooling!
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