Because circumstances change, the best solution to a problem at the present time may not be the best solution at a later time and it may not have been the best solution at an earlier time; old solutions and problems can become irrelevant, old solutions can become problems, and new problems can arise.
For more asides like this, click here.
Posted in: Asides
Wayne C
January 26, 2009
Really? The most important idea is that things change?
That sounds over-rated to me. I think the most important idea ever was that regular hand-washing dramatically reduces disease. To each their own I guess.
sterlinglynch
January 26, 2009
Regular hand-washing is crucial to human well-being and an important innovation, however, the idea which motivates every innovation, like hand-washing, is the one I take to be the most important.
An innovator needs to recognize that what was previously thought to be best practice is no longer best practice and seek a solution. Without that idea, innovation happens only as a matter of accident and particular instances of innovation may not even be adopted.