What’s that sound? Oh right, it’s fabulousness.

Problems are innovations in disguise.

Behind every moment of frustration is a new innovation waiting to be born. You just have to put your empathy hat on and consider the universal human struggles of your customers.

Several years ago, while doing research for my product development and innovation card game, I came across a fascinating thread in an online message board. The question posed to the community was:

What’s the worst minor inconvenience of your life?

Thousands people responded with every pet peeve imaginable. Like stepping in wet spots after putting on socks, burning the roof of your mouth with that first bite of pizza, or having insomnia all night and then finally falling asleep twenty minutes before your alarm goes off.

After poring through a few hundred responses, I came across one that got my innovation turbine cranking.

One woman said her worst minor inconvenience was haircuts. Having to pay money to have an awkward conversation with a stranger while they touch your head is the absolute worst. To which another person replied, we should open a barbershop that guarantees a conversationless haircut.

Now that’s what you call a sharp idea. Talk about a universal human struggle. Everyone knows the most frustrating part about getting a haircut is having to suffer through a sixty minute conversation with a stylist.

Because consider the personality of this career path.

Hairdressers are crazy. God bless them for their cutting and coloring skills, but stylists always have big, extravagant personalities, and tend to overshare inappropriate details of their personal lives during appointments. Plus, all they do is hang out with other stylists all day, gossiping like girlfriends at happy hour, while breathing in fumes of ammonia and bleach.

Meanwhile, customers don’t have the guts to tell the stylists that they’d rather sit in silence instead of listening to their bullshit stories the whole time.

Clearly, there is tension here worth monetizing. There’s no reason this interpersonal challenge has to stand in the way of people’s fashion needs. It’s still possible to get the perfect cut, without subjecting yourself to the conversational exhaustion of your drama queen stylist.

Zenclips is my concept for a revolutionary new hair salon that is staffed exclusively by deaf, mute or verbally challenged stylists. Enjoy our salon’s soothing background music and ambient sounds of scissors, brushes and blowers. And you’ll never have to experience the anxiety of pretending to care about your stylist’s tornado of a life again.

What’s more, every time you spend fifty dollars at our salon, ten percent of your sale will be donated to hearing and speech impaired charities in the local community. Your donations will help raise awareness for this underserved market of people with disabilities, helping remind the world that everyone should be treated equally, no matter their hearing status.

What’s that sound? Oh right, it’s fabulousness.

Zenclips cuts the noise, as well as the hair. No need to split your ends, we’re doing our part. Welcome to the sounds of silence. Franchising opportunities now available.

Imagine how attractive this business model would be for customers who are hearing and speech impaired themselves. Finally, now they have a salon that understands their unique needs. Stylists can communicate with them using sign language, so there’s no need to bring their own interpreter.

Zenclips is a win for the company, a win for the community, and a win for diversity.

Which of your customers frustrations could become monetizations? How could you take the worst parts about a given job and turn them into economic opportunities?

Look, problems are wonderful things. The internet is overflowing with millions of real people complaining about them, hoping that somebody will invent a solution on their behalf. And all you have to do is listen.

What’s that sound? Oh right, it’s money. Your next innovative idea is only a rant away.

How might you tap into the universal human struggles of your customers?