Asking questions is
one of the first steps
in innovation.
“I love the Polaroid story,
which is something of a classic.
Back in the 1940s,
Edwin Land was on vacation
with his 3-year-old daughter.
He snapped a photograph of her,
using a standard camera.
But she wanted to see
the results right away,
not understanding that
the film must be sent off for processing.
She asked,
“Why do we have to wait
for the picture?”
After hearing his daughter’s why question,
Land wondered,
what if you could develop film
inside the camera?
Then he spent a long time
figuring out how
—in effect,
how to bring the darkroom
into the camera.
That one why question
inspired Land
to develop the Polaroid instant camera.
It’s a classic
Why/What if/How story.
But it all started with a child’s naive question
—a great reminder of
the power of fundamental questions.”
All past innovations
were driven by questions
the business founders asked.
The next big innovation
could be driven by questions
YOU ask.