Douglas Adams and the law of unitended consequences

So long then Douglas Adams. I know I will not be the only one who will miss your brilliance, humour and insight. I have Douglas Adams to thank for a very embarrassing involuntary nasal explosion in the British Library Reading Room from trying to stifle a laugh while reading one of his books.

I have spent the last few Sunday mornings listening to his excellent series on Radio Four on the digital revolution. The insight which really rang true to me, whether it is about technology, the internet or business in general is his Law of Unintended Consequences.

Perhaps the clearest example of the Law in action is the advent of the personal computer. This was a largely unforeseen bi-product of the NASA space programme, but has had a far greater impact on humankind than man walking on the moon ever did.

The Internet is also a superb example of this Law. It was originally conceived by the US military to protect communication in the event of nuclear war. The delightful and wholly unintended irony is that it is now one of the greatest threats to US national security.

The Law has been hard at work during the dot com bonanza. Countless companies have rushed online looking for new customers only to find a huge array of nimbler competitors and their old customers demanding lower prices. I was talking to a Bank last week about their website. It was originally conceived to sell products online, but they’ve found its most common use is for online credit checks. Customers would rather get rejected in the comfort of their living room rather than a crowded bank branch.

In fact, the Law applies wherever new product development takes place (I would also make it required studying for any scientist engaged in cloning or GM research). Companies should be very wary of investing large sums of money into developing new products in a vacuum. Too often their supposedly grateful public has a nasty habit of ignoring the best technology or putting it to wholly unforeseen uses. We’ve been developing a new product, but have been careful to actually work with a few clients on it before unleashing it on the world.

I also have one other piece of Adams wisdom to pass on which I think also applies to business; If you are lost when driving, follow the driver in front as they will know where they are going.