Not All Innovation Is Good—Every Solution Creates New Problems, So Measure True Impact

We love to cheer new inventions—the airplane, DDT, cell phones, or fast travel—until their unexpected side effects hit. The Wright brothers pitched flight as a tool for peace, only to see it used in world wars. DDT nearly wiped out malaria, but then devastated food chains, causing a collapse that led to plagues. Automobiles gave freedom—and millions of traffic deaths, pollution, and urban sprawl.

The dilemma is that, in the thrill of innovation, we focus on benefits, rarely pausing to ask, 'Whose problems does this actually solve? Whose problems are we creating or worsening?' The complexity grows when you consider how technologies, once released, are used for purposes no inventor could have envisioned, both wonderful and terrible. History is littered with unintended consequences: lasers meant for communication gave rise to dangerous weapons; computers designed for empowerment now facilitate scams and addiction.

Scholars in science and technology studies warn against assuming all innovation is virtuous. Applying a 'goodness scale'—for self, organization, society, and the world—forces us to look at both sides. The smart approach isn't to avoid change, but to respect the trade-offs: predict, measure, and mitigate the new problems that always come.

By systematically rooting out wishful thinking, you avoid repeating the mistakes of the past: blind faith in untested solutions. You also turn every innovation into a living experiment—one that can be improved, adapted, and maybe, truly, do good.

Whenever you're excited to adopt a new product, process, or solution, pause to create a winners-and-losers list. Actively consider whose life is improved and whose is disrupted, and seek examples from the past where good intentions backfired—prompting you to anticipate at least one unintended consequence for your own case. Don’t stop there: for each tradeoff, brainstorm and implement mitigation strategies, and check in after several months to see what new hurdles emerged. Real progress means measuring costs as well as benefits, so begin today by examining your latest ‘improvement’ through this wider lens.