{"id":33198,"date":"2016-12-12T05:00:19","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tested-neuron.flywheelsites.com\/?p=33198"},"modified":"2016-12-12T01:52:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T08:52:47","slug":"farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

A basketball referee almost<\/strong> gets lynched at a match in Brazil when his pea whistle<\/a> breaks at a crucial point in a game. A real estate agent drops hot coffee over himself after the napkin wrapped around the cup by the barista slips off while he\u2019s driving. And a young man going bald who decides he might as well shave his head completely gets frustrated after finding that traditional razors just can\u2019t do the job.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meet Ron Foxcroft, inventor of the Fox 40 Whistle<\/a>; Jay Sorensen, inventor of the Java Jacket<\/a>; and Todd Greene, inventor of the Headblade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I came across the inspiring stories of these three inventors during my flight to Boston earlier today. And it reminded me of something the person I was due to meet in Boston, Erik Hersman<\/a>, had said to me a couple of years ago while he was writing about Ushahidi<\/a> for my first book, The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They were \u201cscratching their own itch.\u201d They were solving their own problem, and because they owned it and fully understood it, they were fully vested in solving it.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his chapter, one of the main reasons Erik highlighted as critical to the success of Ushahidi was that they were \u201cscratching their own itch.\u201d They were solving their own problem, and because they owned it and fully understood it, they were fully vested in solving it. Kenya was in meltdown (it was the 2008 election crisis<\/a>) and they realized if they didn\u2019t help capture what was going on around the country then it was unlikely anyone else would. Knowing whether friends were safe was important to them.<\/p>\n

What struck me about Ron, Jay, Todd, and Erik is that they were all scratching their own itch. Their stories follow a similar trajectory \u2013 people out minding their own business, then having a eureka moment after struggling with something, then relentlessly pursuing it to a conclusion. In all these cases there were dark moments \u2013 times where packing up was easier than pushing on \u2013 but because finding an answer mattered at a very personal (and often financial) level, giving up was never an option.<\/p>\n

Ever since the concept of reluctant (and accidental<\/a>) innovation started to capture my attention several years ago, I\u2019ve constantly found myself looking at how the international development and social innovation sectors \u2018innovate and invent\u2019 compared to outsiders who are simply \u2018scratching their own itch.\u2019 <\/p>\n

The sector seems to be arguing it both ways \u2013 saying we need to support local innovation as it puts ever more funding and resources into the pockets of outside problem solvers.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is innovation in a controlled \u2018innovation challenge\u2019 environment more conducive to finding workable solutions to global development challenges? Or do ideas seeded in the wild, by accident, by people scratching their own itch, lead to more useful, meaningful, relevant and lasting solutions?<\/p>\n

Sadly, I don\u2019t think we have the evidence right now \u2013 despite the huge resources going into challenges and competitions these days. The sector seems to be arguing it both ways \u2013 saying we need to support local innovation as it puts ever more funding and resources into the pockets of outside problem solvers.<\/p>\n

It would seem to me that, right now, we probably fall into one of two camps:<\/p>\n

Farm ideas from the masses<\/h2>\n

You believe that the best ideas come from challenging the masses to come up with ideas, and dangle carrots in the form of funding, mentorship, fame, and support to encourage people to share them.<\/p>\n

Provide medication for the itch<\/h2>\n

You throw funding, mentorship and support at people scratching their own itch (who usually need little encouragement to seek a solution). These people will often \u2013 but not always \u2013 be local inventors and innovators assuming you\u2019re looking to solve \u2018traditional\u2019 development problems across the third world.<\/p>\n

The first approach is quicker \u2013 perhaps lazier? \u2013 but creates a buzz and excitement over social media that\u2019s hard to beat. The second option is slower, requires more graft and in most instances plays out offline. You can understand why fewer funders or innovation-based institutions take that route.<\/p>\n

For as long as I can remember there has been a tension between local versus imported innovation.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For as long as I can remember there has been a tension between local versus imported innovation. Right now the two camps people fall into is largely based on \u2018what feels right\u2019 to them, or who pays their wages. Of course, without any evidence it\u2019s impossible to know which approach delivers the most appropriate, workable solutions. But based on what I\u2019ve seen and written about over the past decade, it\u2019s very clear to me that people who scratch their own itch seem to get it in ways that outsiders with no itch can\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What leads to more useful developmental solutions: Innovation in a controlled environment, or ideas accidentally created by people scratching their own itch?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":33209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[476,1561,1552,3485],"tags":[1699,3487,1969,350,331,729,2266,311,3486],"class_list":["post-33198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-design","category-fundraising","category-innovation","tag-design-for-impact","tag-designing-solutions","tag-funding","tag-fundraising","tag-innovation","tag-banks","tag-local-issues","tag-mentorship","tag-ushahidi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFarming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What leads to more useful developmental solutions? Innovation in a controlled environment?Or ideas created by accident by people scratching their own itch?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What leads to more useful developmental solutions? Innovation in a controlled environment?Or ideas created by accident by people scratching their own itch?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unreasonable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-12T12:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken Banks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/kiwanja\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ken Banks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ken Banks\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/6410738605c0eef4d848cb3f339cb947\"},\"headline\":\"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-12T12:00:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\"},\"wordCount\":811,\"commentCount\":3,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"design for impact\",\"designing solutions\",\"funding\",\"Fundraising\",\"innovation\",\"Ken Banks\",\"local issues\",\"Mentorship\",\"Ushahidi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Article\",\"Design For Impact\",\"Fundraising\",\"Innovation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\",\"name\":\"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-12T12:00:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/6410738605c0eef4d848cb3f339cb947\"},\"description\":\"What leads to more useful developmental solutions? Innovation in a controlled environment?Or ideas created by accident by people scratching their own itch?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Photo from Creative Commons\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"Unreasonable\",\"description\":\"We believe in the power of business to drive lasting, scalable change.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/6410738605c0eef4d848cb3f339cb947\",\"name\":\"Ken Banks\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7d69eeacb43a9d469b19b9f31ae58a3fed16e19664946bf5055322b139fdcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7d69eeacb43a9d469b19b9f31ae58a3fed16e19664946bf5055322b139fdcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ken Banks\"},\"description\":\"Ken is the founder of kiwanja.net, Means of Exchange, and FrontlineSMS. He is a Pop!Tech and Ashoka Fellow, Tech Awards Laureate, and National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and has been internationally recognized for his work applying mobile tech for positive social and environmental change in the developing world. Ken is also the Entrepreneur in Residence at CARE International.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/kiwanja.net\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/kiwanja\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma","description":"What leads to more useful developmental solutions? Innovation in a controlled environment?Or ideas created by accident by people scratching their own itch?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma","og_description":"What leads to more useful developmental solutions? Innovation in a controlled environment?Or ideas created by accident by people scratching their own itch?","og_url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/","og_site_name":"Unreasonable","article_published_time":"2016-12-12T12:00:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ken Banks","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/kiwanja","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ken Banks","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/"},"author":{"name":"Ken Banks","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/6410738605c0eef4d848cb3f339cb947"},"headline":"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma","datePublished":"2016-12-12T12:00:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/"},"wordCount":811,"commentCount":3,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg","keywords":["design for impact","designing solutions","funding","Fundraising","innovation","Ken Banks","local issues","Mentorship","Ushahidi"],"articleSection":["Article","Design For Impact","Fundraising","Innovation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/","url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/","name":"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-12T12:00:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/6410738605c0eef4d848cb3f339cb947"},"description":"What leads to more useful developmental solutions? Innovation in a controlled environment?Or ideas created by accident by people scratching their own itch?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg","width":1400,"height":500,"caption":"Photo from Creative Commons"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/farming-scratching-innovation-dilemma\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Farming or Scratching? An Innovation Dilemma"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/","name":"Unreasonable","description":"We believe in the power of business to drive lasting, scalable change.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/6410738605c0eef4d848cb3f339cb947","name":"Ken Banks","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7d69eeacb43a9d469b19b9f31ae58a3fed16e19664946bf5055322b139fdcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7d69eeacb43a9d469b19b9f31ae58a3fed16e19664946bf5055322b139fdcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ken Banks"},"description":"Ken is the founder of kiwanja.net, Means of Exchange, and FrontlineSMS. He is a Pop!Tech and Ashoka Fellow, Tech Awards Laureate, and National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and has been internationally recognized for his work applying mobile tech for positive social and environmental change in the developing world. Ken is also the Entrepreneur in Residence at CARE International.","sameAs":["http:\/\/kiwanja.net\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/kiwanja"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BanksK_16.12.11.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33198"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33210,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33198\/revisions\/33210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}