Joe: Most innovation is a waste of time. Lewis: Whoa, starting strong today, Joe. What do you mean? Joe: I mean it’s not because the ideas are bad, but because we're solving the wrong part of the problem. We think we need a better lightbulb, when what we really need is the entire electrical grid. Lewis: Okay, I’m with you. We get obsessed with the shiny object, the single invention, and we completely forget about the hundred other things that need to work for that invention to even matter. Joe: Exactly. And that's the core idea behind a fascinating book we're diving into today: Do Bigger Things by Dan McClure and Jennifer Wilde. It’s a book that fundamentally reframes what it means to create change. Lewis: And these aren't just academics writing from a university office. I looked them up—one has spent decades in the trenches of international aid and humanitarian crises, the other helps massive companies navigate disruption. They've seen firsthand, in some of the most challenging environments on earth, why the typical approach to innovation so often fails. Joe: They really have. And their first big point is that we fundamentally misunderstand what innovation is. We picture a lone genius in a lab, a Steve Jobs figure having a eureka moment. But they tell a completely different story, and it starts with a hospital in India that decided to tackle blindness.

Lewis: Right, and when I think of medical innovation, I'm picturing a new laser, a new surgical technique, some high-tech breakthrough. Joe: That's what everyone thinks. But the story of Aravind Eye Care is so much more profound. In India, millions were going blind from cataracts, a completely curable condition. The problem wasn't a lack of surgical knowledge; it was a problem of access, cost, and scale. Lewis: So, a systems problem. Joe: A massive systems problem. The founder, Dr. Venkataswamy, asked a revolutionary question: "If Coca-Cola can sell billions of sodas and McDonald’s can sell billions of burgers, why can’t Aravind sell millions of sight-restoring operations?" Lewis: I love that. He's looking at a fast-food chain for inspiration to solve blindness. That’s already thinking differently. Joe: Completely. So he built an ecosystem. He didn't invent a new scalpel; he reinvented the entire process. First, he applied the "McDonald's model." He broke down the surgery into small, repeatable steps. Highly trained doctors did only one thing: the surgery itself. They became so efficient they could perform six to eight surgeries an hour, compared to the usual one. Lewis: Wow. So they created an assembly line for restoring sight. Joe: An assembly line for miracles. Nurses and other staff, often women from local villages with no prior medical training, were trained to handle everything else—the pre-op checks, the post-op care, the patient scheduling. This dramatically lowered costs and increased volume. Lewis: Okay, but what about the supplies? The lenses for cataract surgery are expensive, right? Joe: They were. That was another part of the ecosystem they had to build. When they couldn't get affordable, high-quality lenses, they built their own manufacturing facility, Aurolab. It ended up producing lenses for a fraction of the global price, not just for their own hospitals but for countries all over the world. Lewis: This is incredible. So the innovation wasn't a single thing. It was the task-shifting, the high-volume process, and the vertical integration of their own supply chain. They built the whole world that was needed for the surgery to be successful at scale. Joe: That's the definition of ecosystem innovation. They addressed every interconnected part of the challenge. And the result? Aravind has performed almost eight million surgeries. Their outcomes are as good or better than top hospitals in the UK, and they do it for a tiny fraction of the cost, with a model where paying patients subsidize free care for the poor. Lewis: It's a completely self-sustaining system. It’s not just a charity; it's a brilliant business model. But does this only apply to these huge, social-good projects? What about in the cutthroat world of business? Joe: Great question. The book uses another perfect example: Dollar Shave Club. Lewis: Ah, the company with that hilarious viral video. "Our blades are f***ing great." Joe: That's the one. Now, let me ask you, what did Dollar Shave Club invent? Lewis: Well, a cheaper razor, I guess? Joe: Nope. Their razors were just generic blades they bought from a supplier. They didn't invent a new blade, a new handle, nothing. Lewis: Hold on. So how is that innovation? It sounds more like clever marketing. Joe: That's the trap we fall into! The authors argue that their innovation was the ecosystem. Think about what Gillette's ecosystem looked like. It involved massive R&D budgets, complex patents, fighting for shelf space in Walmart and Target, and spending hundreds of millions on ads with celebrity athletes. Lewis: Right, a huge, expensive, complicated machine. Joe: Exactly. Michael Dubin, the founder of Dollar Shave Club, looked at that machine and decided not to fight it. He decided to build a new one. His ecosystem consisted of a simple website, a contract with a razor manufacturer, a subscription-based delivery service, and a single, hilarious YouTube video that cost a few thousand dollars to make. Lewis: He just bypassed the entire traditional system. No retail stores, no shelf space wars, no massive ad campaigns. Joe: He made Gillette's biggest strengths—their retail dominance and massive marketing budget—completely irrelevant to his customers. He didn't build a better razor; he built a better, cheaper, and more convenient system for getting a razor. That's why Unilever bought them for a billion dollars. They bought the new ecosystem. Lewis: Okay, I'm starting to see it. It's not about the 'thing,' it's about the 'system.' Aravind built a system for delivering healthcare. Dollar Shave Club built a system for delivering razors. But how do these systems actually work? It can't just happen by accident. There must be some underlying principles at play.

Joe: You've hit on the next crucial part of the book. It’s not magic. The authors identify five specific sources of power that make these ecosystems so potent. And they use another brilliant example to illustrate it: Airbnb. Lewis: Another company that didn't really "invent" a physical product. They don't own any hotels. Joe: Exactly. That's the first source of power: Lots of Legos. Innovators can draw from a huge pool of existing building blocks in the world. Airbnb didn't need to build hotels; the spare rooms already existed. They just found a way to connect them. Lewis: They saw the world as a box of Legos and just started clicking them together in a new way. I like that. What's the second power? Joe: Built-in Motivations. A great ecosystem works because everyone involved gets something they want. With Airbnb, the hosts get to make money from an underutilized asset—their spare room. The travelers get a more authentic, often cheaper, place to stay. It’s a win-win. The system fuels itself because the motivations are baked in. Lewis: That makes sense. It's not a top-down command; people participate because it's in their own self-interest. Joe: The third source of power is my favorite: Rule-Breaking. By creating a new ecosystem, you get to make new rules. Airbnb didn't have to deal with the zoning laws, hotel taxes, and massive real estate costs that chain hotels do. They created a new game where they had the advantage. Lewis: At least for a while, until cities started catching on and regulating them. But it gave them a massive head start. Joe: A massive head start. The fourth power is Magical Synergies. This is the one that can sound a bit like corporate jargon, but it's real. Lewis: Yeah, "synergy" is a word that makes my eye twitch. What does it actually mean here? Joe: It means the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, often in unexpected ways. When an Airbnb opens up in a neighborhood, the local coffee shop gets more business. The nearby tour guide gets more clients. The corner store sells more groceries. Airbnb doesn't pay for any of that, but their ecosystem creates this ripple of economic value for everyone, which in turn makes the location more attractive for the next traveler. It's a positive feedback loop. Lewis: Okay, that's a much better explanation. It's the value created between the pieces, not just within them. What's the last one? Joe: Adaptive Flexibility. An ecosystem isn't a rigid machine; it's a living network. If a hurricane hits Florida, Marriott has a bunch of empty, damaged buildings. Airbnb's supply can shift instantly. Hosts can take their listings down, or even offer them up for free to evacuees through Airbnb.org. The system can bend and adapt to changing realities in a way a traditional, asset-heavy company never could. Lewis: So you have Lots of Legos, Built-in Motivations, Rule-Breaking, Magical Synergies, and Adaptive Flexibility. That's the engine. But who drives it? Who is the person that sees all these disconnected pieces—the spare rooms, the travelers, the local coffee shops—and has the vision to connect them? Joe: I'm so glad you asked. This is the most powerful concept in the book for me. The authors say this new type of innovation requires a new type of innovator: The Choreographer. Lewis: A choreographer? Like for a dance? Joe: Precisely. Think about it. A choreographer doesn't dance every part. They don't play every instrument. Their job is to see the big picture, to understand how the dancers, the music, the lighting, and the stage all come together to create a single, stunning performance. They are the ultimate systems thinker. Lewis: I love that analogy. So the Innovation Choreographer is the person who orchestrates the ecosystem. They're the one pulling together the different people, organizations, and technologies. Dr. V at Aravind was a choreographer. Michael Dubin at Dollar Shave Club was a choreographer. Joe: Exactly. They are generalists who can build bridges across different worlds. They have to be visionaries who can imagine a different future, but also, as the book points out, "action heroes" who can get into the messy details and make it happen. They need to be storytellers who can inspire all the different players to join the dance. Lewis: You know, that makes me think about the reception of this book. It's been generally positive, but some readers have said it feels more like a collection of inspiring stories than a practical "how-to" guide. Does introducing the "Choreographer" make it more actionable? Joe: I think it does. Because it shifts the focus. It says the skill you need to develop isn't just project management or product design. It's big-picture thinking, it's bridge-building, it's strategic rule-breaking. It gives you a new lens for your own career. You might already be a choreographer in your own organization, connecting different departments to get a project done, but you've never had a name for it. This book gives it a name and a framework.

Lewis: So, when we started, I thought this was just another business book about 'thinking outside the box.' But it's not. It's about redesigning the box itself. It's about seeing the box as just one Lego piece and then looking around for all the other pieces you can connect it to. Joe: That's a perfect way to put it. The big takeaway for me is that your greatest limitation might not be your budget, your technology, or your team. It's your definition of the problem. If you define your problem as "we need a better product," you'll get incremental improvement. You'll get a slightly better lightbulb. Lewis: But if you define the problem as "we need a new ecosystem to deliver light," you get the electrical grid. You get a solution that can power not just one bulb, but entire cities and industries. Joe: You get to do bigger things. The book argues that this is the only way we're going to solve the really massive, messy challenges we face, whether it's climate change, social inequality, or reinventing a legacy industry. We have to stop thinking like inventors and start thinking like choreographers. Lewis: That's a powerful shift. So for someone listening right now who feels stuck on a problem, at work or in their community, what's one concrete thing they can do tomorrow that's inspired by this book? Joe: I'd suggest this exercise from the book. Take that problem you're stuck on. For a moment, forget about how you can solve it. Instead, make a list. Ask, "Who else cares about this problem, even for completely different reasons?" Is it a local government? A different department in your company? A community group? A tech startup? Lewis: Map out the other players. Joe: Exactly. Just map them out. See who's on the board. That's the first step to seeing the ecosystem that's already there, waiting to be connected. Lewis: I love that. It's a small step towards seeing the bigger picture. We'd be curious to hear what ecosystems you all are a part of, or what problems you're trying to solve. Drop us a line on our socials and share your thoughts. Joe: This is Aibrary, signing off.