This is what I would consider a great dilemma in business or at least two preached school of thoughts about what businesses needs to do to be successful.
In the startup world, the great entrepreneurs of the world preach that a new business should be focused on solving a problem. Then you have the Drucker perspective that preached that you need to focus on opportunities and not fixing problems.
What is the difference between the two? Could they both be right in their own way or should we lean more towards one than the other? Or do they really mean the same thing?
Peter Drucker says that fixing problems only gets you back to equilibrium to yesterday. That spending your energy and resources on fixing problems only diverts your attention on opportunities for the future.
The 21st century entrepreneurial class says that there are many problems that people or businesses have and solving those problems brings out a viable business that you can capitalize on.
Let's use large companies that has sprung up in the last decade or two to see what they did and are they solving problems or capitalizing on opportunities? Did Google solve the problems of searching the Internet? Was it a problem? I remember the early days in the 90's, and there were plenty of search engine platforms around. I would argue that it was easier and faster to search for relevant information back then than it is today. So, I don't think that there was a problem that was solved by Google.
What was the difference between Amazon and other early online booksellers? There weren’t any problems getting books from physical stores, libraries and quite a few online booksellers of the early internet, so there wasn't a problem getting books. Amazon capitalized on an opportunity to be a major distributor of books. They didn't really solve any problems.
I could go through a lot of other examples. Maybe I'm looking at it through a small lens or have confirmation bias on the opportunity vs problems dilemma, because there are problems in the world that needs solving, but I'm leaning towards opportunity is the key for business success. Is solving the problems the opportunity?
Let's use the Pacific Garbage Patch problem. This floating plastic debris field in the ocean that is in dire need of being cleaned up. There is a race for all kinds of devices and equipment that are in competition to see which one can cleanup this garbage patch successfully, quickly and efficiently. I've seen a dozen different systems demonstrated and used to showcase or try their hand in solving this problem. But once we get it cleaned up, what then? We are back to clean ocean, which is solving for yesterday.
Is the real opportunity that of cleaning up every water way, ocean, lake, river, reservoir etc.? Garbage collection and disposal is big business and there is an opportunity in garbage in water. Not only does it need cleaning up, but contentiously cleaned, because we may not solve the problem of trash reaching the waterways. If it was looked at as an opportunity, then maybe it can generate faster traction to getting something done, rather than being stalled by problem solving, trying to fix the best machine to solve garbage collection in the water.
I look at the word and action of opportunity as that of having a positive connotation to it, when the word problem has more of a negative one. If expressed or look at in that light, I say that opportunity is the direction that businesses need to take to help continue their success now and in the future.
