Questions that to Lead Innovation | Stephen Shapiro, Innovation Keynote Speaker

I'm on the road 200 days a year, and unfortunately, I'm often gone for weeks at a time, so I can't just do carry on luggage. And the thing which, if you're a frequent flier, one of the things we always dread is having to check our bags because we know it's not the speediest process. And so this is a picture of Houston Airport. Houston Airport. They asked the passengers, what is the one aspect of the airport you would like us to improve? And they were heard clearly that it was the baggage claim process. It was too slow. So they invested millions of dollars in new technology, new conveyor belts, more people. They worked on the process, and they got it down to eight minutes. That's pretty awesome. So they asked the passengers, what is the one thing about the airport you would like improved? Guess what it was? It was baggage claim still. And they're like, what are we going to do? Because it cost us so much to get to eight minutes, to get to seven, six or five. It's going to be. It's impossible. And then they had an epiphany. What they realized was that, yes, it takes eight minutes for the bags to get from the plane to the baggage carousel, but it only took one minute for the passengers to get from the plane to the baggage carousel. Yeah. They asked a different question. Instead of asking, how do we speed up the baggage claim process, they asked, how do we slow down the passengers? Exactly. And they literally reconfigured Houston Airport to slow the passengers down so it would take, on average, eight minutes. They get to the baggage claim, their bags are there, and when they ask passengers, are you happy now? Guess what? They were excited. The way you ask a question has a profound impact on the types of solutions you develop.