While attending a trade show yesterday, I heard two different people say, “You have to innovate or die, right?” In the moment and in that context, I agreed with them.

This morning, scrolling the YouTubes, the algorithms knew I am planning a semi-DIY remodel and fed me this gem of a video. It featured a significantly harder-to-install outlet at 90x the cost of a regular one—for something that, to me, looks like an afterthought.

“Innovate or Die” has to be balanced with “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

In our digital world, it’s just too easy for software companies to spit out new stuff. Recently, I’ve watched my go-to apps go to crap. Photoshop, QuickBooks, and MS Office have been inundating me with in-your-face AI while also making it clear that they are training that AI on my own data. All of this is driving me to other products. I want AI to help streamline certain tasks, but don’t shove it down my throat or turn my data into your product.

“Stay in your lane, Jared. You do vehicle tech, not software. Get back on topic.”

When innovating in software, hardware, transportation, or building a better mousetrap, the goal should be improving the user experience, not just innovating to stay alive. Instead of taking two steps forward and one step back, take a minute, think, and take one smart step forward. People get all excited when you take the two steps forward but get angry when you take the one step back. If we keep taking one deliberate step forward, we should keep moving in the right direction.

If you are a customer of JARDUM and you’re asking for two steps forward while I’m pushing hard for one deliberate step forward, please understand that I’m not trying to hold you back. I’m trying to innovate where it truly improves the user experience.While attending a trade show yesterday, I heard two different people say, “You have to innovate or die, right?” In the moment and in that context, I agreed with them.