I love this quote from Arthur Koestler, "The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards".

For some reason perhaps because I travel so often, when I think of this quote I conjure the image of luggage on wheels. Robert Plath is credited with this innovation. Remember the days of lifting our luggage? I still have marks on my shoulders from garment bags. And let's face it, early portable computers were hardly "portable".

Plath was in great position to introduce this 'eureka' product as he was a pilot. So he shrank the boxy suitcase, put an extended handle on it and added wheels. He started with 100 bags which he sold to fellow pilots starting in 1989. By the mid 1990s, Plath's Travelpro was a $50 million business. This now obvious innovation has changed the way people travel. We now take more than we need because we are not hefting it.

Too often in creativity and innovation we seek something completely fresh and entirely groundbreaking. Plath did not invent luggage or travel, he disarmingly and cleverly enhanced both. As creatives, we are all on a quest for the new and the bold. But we should not lose sight of obvious, easily introduced solutions that are original discoveries in their own right.

Posted on March 26, 2008 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)