At first glance, it might seem that technological development is somehow chaotic - after all, you never know what will be invented and what innovation will appear on the market in the near future. But is it really unknown? About half a century ago, Genrich Altshuller postulated that technical systems are constantly evolving. He also noticed that this evolution is in line with certain general principles. These two observations arose in Altshuller's mind when, in the 1970s, he studied how inventions had been created and how they had evolved over time. At some point he began to see certain patterns in this evolution. In 1975, Altshuller and his colleagues systematized and categorized those regularities, eventually calling them the "Principles of Technical System Development". That is how one of the strongest tools of the basic TRIZ methodology was created.

An interesting fact is that structured development trends can also be seen outside of technology, e.g., in the way a business evolves, in particular in the consulting sector. Of course, I do not claim the right to formulate universal theses here - primarily because my observation relates to exactly one case: the consulting company called Crido, where I have been working continuously since 2008 (and which was founded in 2005). Maybe someday there will be time for more in-depth research, but now I would like to stick to the Crido case, allowing readers to consider whether they see similar patterns in other businesses. The essence of the change I have observed is that, in their evolution, advisory companies are heading towards the "one-stop shop" model. The idea of that model is to give the client who decides to use the support of a consulting company the possibility to get everything they need (and even services that they do not know they need). In other words, to meet the client’s needs that he is aware of and those he is not yet aware of. But first things first.

Since the creation of Crido, one of the two main areas of consulting has been advisory services in the process of obtaining and managing state aid from EU funds. The company was founded a little over a year after Poland's accession to the European Union and soon proved to make a perfect fit with the realities of Polish entrepreneurs at that time - a fairly wide stream of EU funds that could be obtained, but with the application process and requirements for the subsequent implementation of co-financed projects largely unknown to Polish companies.

Successive EU financial perspectives and multi-billion euro budgets directed to Poland to continuously stimulate development and improve the competitiveness of the Polish economy allowed Crido’s European Advisory Department (which later changed its name to Business and Innovation) to grow, build long-term relationships with clients, disseminate knowledge on EU subsidies, and also (and perhaps above all) to observe and listen to their clients and to identify their needs.

Here is the crucial question - why not hear about our clients’ needs directly from the clients but rather identify them ourselves? First of all, because clients do not always know their needs, secondly - even if they do – they are not always able to name them precisely. Here is an example:

A CEO of a medium-sized Polish production company called Crido. He found our number in Google search. He wanted a grant from EU funds for the development of his company. The main motivator was that he had recently noticed at the entrance gate to one of the nearby companies an information board about the multi-million subsidy granted for the implementation of some innovative project. So, I asked that CEO what kind of development project his company was about to conduct. It’s because the EU money is indeed available, but it is always allocated to a specific project. The caller answered the question with a question - what can such a subsidy be used for? I patiently explained that it depends on the nature of the project - whether it is an investment project, maybe a research and development project, or maybe an environmental project. What is the scale of the project, what is the size of the company, etc? The CEO replied that he had not thought about it. His production directors had signaled to him several times that some new machines could be useful. Once, in a wider group of people, they had even considered ideas for new products, but in practice nothing had come of it. The CEO’s company has been supplying various plastic elements to the automotive sector for several years. Is a typical Tier 2 provider? Its sales level is quite stable, but mainly because it fills direct orders for a specific group of buyers. Therefore, there are no development incentives in that company; there are also no specific directions or a plan of activities. However, the CEO still wanted money from the subsidy. He would also gladly pay for the advisory services, because he realized that he had neither the time nor the competence to take care of all the details related to the process of applying for support. However, the problem remained - despite the willingness to cooperate, there was not even a project outline or so much as an idea of the shape of the future innovation. The CEO promised to think about it and come back with the idea in the future ... which of course never happened.

There have been many more such cases in the history of Crido. Of course, our consultants can help by shaping the existing project to meet the EU subsidy criteria or by properly emphasizing certain areas that increase the likelihood of receiving support. However, this is working with something that exists, not creating a project from scratch. Moreover, who would take the responsibility for setting the direction of a company’s development (even in the form of a specific project) without prior analysis of its situation, environment, technological resources, etc.

And here we come to the point - this CEO, of whose kind there are many, never said directly that he needed a detailed analysis of his company, which would take into account the company's product portfolio, applied technological processes, its know-how as well as patents or other intellectual property rights. He never said that he would like to identify areas in the company with the greatest potential for further development; areas that should be modernized to reduce costs or improve efficiency; as well as areas that should be eliminated and replaced by other solutions. Finally, he did not indicate that he would like to verify his competitive environment, potential patent restrictions or compare the level of development and the level of innovation of his company with selected competitors.

However, come to think of it, it was exactly such knowledge that he needed to consciously plan his own company’s development path. Such knowledge would make it clear in which areas the potential for innovation lies and which products have the best chance to beat the competition. From here, it is only a step to define the framework of the project that could apply for EU funding.

But let's return to the development of consulting companies and their move towards the concept of "one-stop shop". Since we can advise a potential client on how to shape his development project so as to maximize the chance of receiving a grant, why should we not advise him at an earlier stage? Even more so because, in many cases, there is such a need. In other words, you must first define what and how to develop and only then think about how to incorporate EU money into this development. There is one point though that needs to be emphasized and clarified. When I write about development directions, I do not mean strategic decisions such as: expansion into new markets, construction of a new production hall, internship programs for vocational schools, etc. Consultancy in typical business areas exists and it is doing well. I focus more closely on product, process, technology and innovation issues, e.g., how should a client's flagship product be modified to increase its working parameters and make it more innovative? What modifications should be implemented in the production process so that it is possible to increase the amount of secondary raw materials usage and to reduce the amount of post-production waste? Which of our technologies could be successfully used in another sector, thus bringing us additional license revenues? The ability to answer these questions would be clear added value in our consultancy services. However, without proper preparation and competence, it is practically impossible to give reliable answers.

When, at the end of 2019, we were thinking about what to do to provide such added value to our clients, consulting in this area did not exist at all on the Polish market. In particular, there was no high-quality consulting based on tested tools and proven and effective methodology. So, a problem arose - we knew at Crido that clients may need help in determining the right directions for development or implementing innovative projects, but we didn't know how to help them.

The answer came from the Far East, specifically from South Korea. Technology giants coming from there, such as Samsung or Hyundai, known for their innovations and a wide product portfolio, do not count on luck or chance when planning their development. Instead, they develop innovations in a very systematic, almost algorithmic way. They set the most promising development directions, define the main parameters of values for individual product groups, analyze trends in technological development or even solutions patented by competitors. Of course, such an approach did not come from nowhere. It turned out that it is based on the TRIZ methodology, which additionally has been enriched and improved over the years (evolving almost like the technical systems mentioned earlier) and finally it took the shape of the approach that today is called pragmatic innovations.

So, we had the solution. From that moment, there were only a few (not necessarily simple) steps left, such as assembling a competent team, developing action plans and service models, or even spreading information about new opportunities among potential clients. All this was done in record time, and this is how Crido R&D was created - a business line that responds to the needs that clients almost never named directly but which clearly existed (and still exist). What's more, it is a business line that works in a perfectly complementary way with consultancy in the field of obtaining state aid. By combining these two areas (and also thanks to tax and legal consulting and several smaller business lines) we have made Crido a real "one-stop shop". Today, if a client asks about the possibility of obtaining a subsidy but is not able to determine what innovation he would like to achieve thanks to this subsidy, we can honestly tell him that we can help him to determine the directions of development and ultimately even create this innovation for him (additionally obtaining some EU support for that process). In other words, we have evolved and developed competence to meet the needs that are not always directly named.

Last but not least, it is worth mentioning one of the positive side effects of pragmatic innovations consulting. The application of this approach requires from us to carry out calculations and computer modeling, to prepare design documentation, to create and test product or technology demonstrators or prototypes. This way we show the client that the innovation concepts we have developed for him can actually be implemented. To effectively create demonstrators or prototypes, we have created and equipped our own laboratory in which our consultancy takes on a completely different dimension. It's not just a spreadsheet and a text document; it's creative and experimental activities. What's more, these activities also allow us to create and develop our own products and technology solutions that we can offer directly to our clients. I will hazard a claim that this makes Crido the only such advisor on the Polish market. Technological solutions however are the subject of a different story, and we will definitely come back to them again.