What are you searching for?

My little niece – we call her Chinu – has a couple of  videos and books. In some of the videos and books there is a story, in this story the main character – Lenny (in one story) – is searching/waiting for a friend. The idea is – Lenny wants a friend did not know how to identify the friend. Some of the dialogs of the story –

…”Oh Sorry! cheeped a little voice”

“Never Mind,” growled Lenny.

“My name is Tweek. And yours?” cheeped the voice.

“My name is Lenny, but I don’t have time to stop and talk,” Explained Lenny. “I have to get home and wait for a friend”.

“May I wait with you?” asked Tweek.

“If you want to, but don’t disturb me,” replied Lenny.

“So what does your friend look like? when is he coming?” asked Tweek.

“Don’t know,” said Lenny.

Believe it or not, the search/wait is on…. everyone of us is searching for something. TV channels are searching for next sensational singer or dancer. News channels are searching for next breaking news. Box office is searching for its next bigger hit or super star. Citizen of India in general for good governance and so on. Whatever said and done, search is on.

When we turn to individual, the search is for a better friend, good house, better life style, peace of mind, love or a superior job. No doubt search is on. Many a times what is observed is that the search is on but one does not know what is that he/she is searching for.

When an organization is on the journey of innovation, not knowing what is required becomes a very big problem. In my innovation consulting and TRIZ learning I used to have a framework for removing the problem of not knowing what are we searching for. The method is Ideal Final Result (IFR). The concept of IFR seeks the destination or best solution in the beginning itself. This method helps identifying what are  looking for and where we want to go?

So what are you searching for?

By the way, when the Buddha was searching (enlightenment), he could not attain that. However, when he even dropped the idea of “searching” he achieved it! To start off – the Buddha knew what he is searching for.

Image source – TRIZ Journal, article by Simon Dewulf and Darell Mann