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An Exclusive Excerpt from MC24 by Bruce Mau:
"The Biggest Problems Create the Biggest Opportunities"
The worse things are, the happier designers become. A good situation is not interesting, a bad situation is good, a terrible situation is inspirational.
You could call this “the first-responder mind-set” because the first responder always runs toward the problem. The bigger the problem, the faster you run! Likewise, wherever things are not working there is an entrepreneurial opportunity for design.
As entrepreneurial designers, we should look for the toughest challenges in the world today—they are also the biggest business opportunities in human history. Also: the greater the problem, the bigger the potential impact. As inventor Dean Kamen said, “If it isn’t going to change the world, move on.”
The pursuit of hard problems can be applied on a small scale, too. You may not be tackling great global issues; your design challenges may be local and specific. Nevertheless, the same principle applies: look for difficulty and love the impossible. Where others see defeat, discover possibility.
