Ralph Bana, credited with many innovations in the travel and leisure industry, was quoted during an interview with the industry magazine Tour & Travel: "I just don't come in and say "ah-hah" ! The answer relates to clearly defining what the problem is, forcing yourself to write it down, researching the alternatives, picking one that will ring the bell and then going out and selling it". This is great advice that could be used by any industry, government, or organisation.

When a problem is written down on a piece of paper the sentences can be analysed in a way that fuzzy concepts, wild ideas, and general waffle can be removed. So how would this work ? Let’s take an example, the National Health Service ( NHS ) in the UK are often criticised about the speed of innovation. This is a complex problem and there maybe many underlying factors but it is often heard that there is a lack of money to help speed up innovation. One attempt at writing out the problem could be:

“The NHS is slow at innovation because it doesn’t have enough money.”

The first thing to observe about the statement is that it identifies a problem: “The NHS is slow at innovation” and a solution: “it doesn’t have enough money”. Digging deeper there are three concepts that are at best unclear: “slow”, “innovation” and “enough”. Starting with “slow” it is unclear how slow is slow - is it a perception or are there some hard facts ? ( a quick web search produces no hard facts about the speed of innovation in the NHS ). Next “innovation”; another search on the web shows that there are many definitions of innovation ( around 1,980,000,000 hits ! ) and therefore scope for many experts and management consultant to debate its definition for many years ahead. Finally “enough” - how much is “enough” ? - twice the current amount, three times the current amount ? Therefore we can conclude that the stated problem, and solution, is loaded with confusion and can only lead to further confusion, and result in wasting time and money.

A better example of analysing a problem when it is written down is:

“One of the highest priorities for the NHS is the reduction of obesity which is estimated to cost £6bn per year”.

The description of the problem is clearly defined and quantified. However, it could be criticised for being at too high a level - too abstract. It could be broken down into factors that are contributing to obesity, for example: education, economic, social context, life style, public health etc. which could be quantified, and then alternative solutions explored.

Ralph Bahna was always looking for competitive advantage, which had to be “neither short-term nor flimsily opportunistic”. The technique of writing the problem out and critically analysing its content is an effective way to clear out muddled thinking. With a clear problem definition then there is a greater chance of finding a successful solution.

A new digital business seems to hit the headlines everyday. The news report suggest that the entrepreneurs had a sudden flash of insight, and after a few coffee fuelled weeks of writing code, a product was launched and truck loads of money rolled in. Reality can be very different.

I recently came across a company called RentHop, an apartment listing service based in New York City, during a predictive modelling competition held on Kaggle. The aim of the competition was to predict the number of inquires a new apartment listing would receive based on the listing’s creation date and other features. To understand the context of the data supplied by the the competition, I gathered as much information on the company that I could find. Themes started to appear during my research that provided a fascinating insight into the hard work and determination that goes into the development of a very successful digital business - there are many lessons for the rest of us.

RentHop was started in 2009 by Lee Lin and Lawrence Zhou following bad experiences with brokers when trying to rent apartments. They initially thought that brokers were not adding any value and therefore the industry was ripe for a radical change - a disruption. After all if books can be bought, taxis ordered and restaurant tables booked with a few clicks why can’t a similar process be in place for renting an apartment ?

The first lesson to emerge from RentHop’s history is to understand the intricacies of the market for your idea - detail is everything ! To understand the detail it is important to experience the market that you are targeting both as a customer and as supplier. In the early days of RentHop they were challenged by the venture firm Y Combinator, who supported them during a summer incubator program, to spend time as brokers so that they could check if their idea was going to work. Lee and Lawrence gained their brokers licence, which required 75 hours of class, and then spent a few successful months as brokers in New York City. They learned the craft of a broker down to the nitty gritty, such as buying six-packs of Coronas for the Superintendents to get in with them so they could get a copy the master set of keys and therefore be the first to get into apartments. During their time as brokers they realised that the most important part of brokering is the relationship developed between the broker and renter. A really good broker makes the process a whole lot less painful for the renter and they realised that a great broker adds value. Therefore RentHop changed direction - pivoted - and worked on adding value to the broker’s activity by increasing the effectiveness of the leads. For example, at the heart of RentHop’s offering is the HopScore which rates the quality of an apartment listing. Listings with higher HopScore appear at the top of the search results where they’ll have more exposure to renters.

Nothing stands still is the next big lesson. Markets are constantly changing: new entrants, new technology, new legislation all provide a turbulent background where your are trying to hold onto your customers and find new ones. In the case of RentHop new entrants into rentals are AirBnb who are changing the rental landscape. Is AirBnB a short term let or are they moving apartments into the hotel business ? The development of mobile technology continues having an impact. It’s inherent value can be exploited, for example brokers arranging meetings with clients while on the move or updating the information about an apartment after a visit and therefore increasing its HopScore while on the move. Also, as RentHop continues to grow it can leverage its property data - its digital assets - and by combining with with public data ( e.g. New York City Rents By Subway Stop 2017 ) to provide a better service and therefore competitive advantage.

One advantage of a digital business is that it can grow very quickly compared to a bricks and mortar type business - easier to scale. However, another lesson is that scaling has to be sensitive to local markets. For example the HopScore had to be changed when covering other cities. In New York City the more people that see an apartment but show no interest, then it can be concluded that it is poor quality, and therefore the HopScore can be dropped. However in other cities there maybe bottom feeder investors looking at the apartment therefore the eleventh showing could be just as important as the first visit.

Behind the click-to-cash headlines for a digital business there are many years of hard work by dedicated entrepreneurs. Analysing the development of companies like RentHop provides valuable lessons for future entrepreneurs.

For more information on RentHop, its history, challenges and many more lessons, see:

You’ve Got The Power With Lee Lin, Founder of RentHop #137 - a fascinating interview which covers why and how RentHop started, the intricacies of rental markets, the impact of new technology and legislation. The post: Why Real Estate Brokers Exist in 2016 And Beyond analysis the future levels of automation of the brokers activities. Finally, Lee describes the similarities between brokers and chess players in the post: Hello from RentHop – and why brokers and chess players are similar

You will be joining a highly dynamic profession with a track record of success that stretches over 4000 years. Mathematicians continue to make major contributions to the development of civilisation, and remain at the centre of creating solutions that affect many aspects of people's lives.

Projects

You will be involved with a wide range of clients at all levels in organisations as diverse as education, local and national governments, small to large multinational businesses, policy making bodies and charities. Many of the projects require a pioneering approach to solving complex problems, very often in diverse environments, and may require the development of new mathematical concepts and techniques. Amongst your roles you will be expected to use modelling and simulation techniques to manage and analyse large amounts of data. With your mathematical skills and experience you will be expected to help the clients understand their problems which will enable them to make better decisions.

Role

You will be required to shape and drive projects from the initial discussions with the client through to successful implementation of the solution. Projects can cover: improving the scheduling of transportation to reduce its impact on the environment, linking DNA information to diseases, predicting the spread of viruses through populations, developing algorithms used in computer graphics to explore new ways to visually represent data and open up new forms of entertainment, optimisation of manufacturing process to efficiently produce goods, create new mathematical models for space flight which will be used to explore the universe, model human intelligence that will be applied to improve artificial intelligence, and develop learning algorithms to be used in developing new business models for e-commerce.

Responsibilities:

• Develop the objectives of projects, planning the resources and execute the project taking into account risk management, change control and documentation.
• Successfully manage all of the people involved in the project, including the client, scientists, engineers, regulatory and standards groups, senior management and other functions within an organization.
• Communicate the excitement in developing and applying mathematics to audiences ranging from schools to the general public. Also, promote the potential use of mathematics to professions not familiar with its capabilities.

Your Background

• Must enjoy finding patterns in every day situations whether it is in the geometry of a coastline, the flight path of a tennis ball, or the movement of people through a shopping centre.
• Prepared to sacrifice many hours in answering the question “why?” about the patterns that are observed in the surrounding world, and using the insight derived from the answer, to predict how the patterns will evolve.
• Courage and determination in developing solutions to mathematical problems, and resilient to skepticism about the role of mathematics in everyday life.

More Details

For more information read about: Pythagoras of Samos, Euclid of Alexandria, Sir Issac Newton, Albert Einstein, René Descartes, Emmy Noether, Richard Feynman, Henri Poincaré, Sophie Germain, Ronald Fisher, Hendrick Bode", Joseph-Lois Lagrange, David Hilbert, Gottfried Leibniz, Carl Gauss, Rudolf Karman, Bernhard Riemann, Edward Witten, John Forbes Nash, Jr., Alan Turing, George Zames, Ada Lovelace, John von Neumann, Andrew Wiles, Évariste Galois, Sofia Kovalevskaya, Maryam Mirzakhani, ...

It was a big decision - should I give up or carry on.

Due to illness, where I needed antibiotics, I could not donate a pint of blood for over a year. However, feeling fit and no signs of the illness returning it was time to get back to regular blood donations. I booked in to my nearest donation centre and was getting ready to attend. But close to the day the session was cancelled and although the NHS Give Bloodkindly booked me into a session the following week I couldn’t attend due to other commitments. So I reached for my trusty NHS Give Blood mobile app to rebook a session. But the next local session was towards the end of the year. Not deterred I searched wider but found that they were either full or were being reorganised. I eventually found a drop-in centre in a major city but that would have required about a couple of hours traveling and probably a long wait. I was feeling frustrated. I wanted to donate a pint of blood but it was proving to be a major logistics exercise and I started to wonder if it really was worth the effort. But the words “A pint of blood can save a life” found me walking into a north Shropshire Town Council offices to give blood.

The first pint of blood that I donated started where most of my adventures start - around the bar ( in this case in the Students Union ). There had been posters everywhere about the forthcoming visit of a Blood Donation Unit to my college, and over a pint of beer a friend asked if I was going to donate a pint. Thoughts of Tony Hancock’s The Blood Donor “… a pint! That’s very nearly an armful!” brought forward a number of excuses ranging from I felt a cold coming on to I needed to complete a project to meet a deadline ( the reality was that up to that point in my life I had very few things stuck in me never mind taking anything out and therefore I was frightened ). But my friend persisted and I successfully gave my first pint of blood over 40 years ago and have been giving every since.

The experience of donating blood has changed a lot from my first pint when we used to lay down on what appeared to be camp beds to now when state of the art ergonomic chair-beds are used to rotate us into position with relative ease. However one thing remains constant which is a drink and an excellent selection of biscuits after the donation. ( if you are interested in the history of blood transfusion then The History of Blood Transfusion is a quick read). Also, the mobile app is amongst the best because it is very easy to use.

Following the trouble I was having donating blood I dug a bit deeper into blood donation in the UK. I was surprised to find that there are only about 3% ( or 1.3m ) registered blood donors in England with the numbers dropping due to a range of reasons. To address the problem of falling donation volunteers and bring down costs to help with the NHS costs NHS Give Blood have produced an Blood 2020 A strategy for the blood supply in England and North Wales which outlines many positive initiatives.

Sitting waiting to donate blood I wondered what can be done to help increase the number of volunteers ( and therefore increase the number of donation sessions ) and came up with a few thoughts:

• Raise the profile of donating blood using celebrity endorsement ( I can never forget Vinnie Jones Hands Only CPR video ). Imagine Gary Barlow endorsing blood donations to his millions of fans or Peter Kay singing on video about the importance of donating blood. How about an Olympian jogging into a sessions around the country ?

• We are in an era where everything seems to be ‘pop-up’. There are pop-up shops, restaurants, gigs and so on. Why not pop-up blood donations say in a University, shopping centre or large company. The mobile app ( or the desktop version ) could be developed so that interest in attending a pop-up session could be registered and when there are enough volunteers then a pop-up session could be organised.

• “Follow the blood” - show how the blood donated helps people in their battle against illness. There is already @GiveBloodNHS on twitter where both people donating and receiving blood exchange stories which I find very up lifting. Also, NHS Give Blood send a message a few days after a donation about where your blood has been issued. All of these are excellent ways to keep volunteers involved and should be promoted further to get greater involvement in donating blood.

I am sure that there are many more ideas that can be developed to help people donate more blood.

As for my next donation - having used the mobile app to book a session at a different location than my normal one I will be using it again to lead me to new parts of the country - yes - I could be coming to a donation session near you !

Following the publication of this post the NHS Blood and Transplant very kindly responded to the issues that I raised, in summary:

NHS Blood and Transplant have made changes to their sessions and the times due to improvements in clinical practice and to ensure that blood is used appropriately within hospitals which means that blood use has fallen. This is a trend they are seeing globally. It’s important that they respond to this by collecting the right type of blood, in the right quantities at the right time as efficiently as they can.

Many donors now choose to book from one session to the next. As a result of this, a large percentage of appointments do get booked up in advance. On the one hand this is a good thing for NHS Blood and Transplant because it helps to ensure they are going to achieve the collection target for the sessions that they run and meet the demand of hospitals nationally. However, this can make booking an appointment more difficult as in effect it reduces the number of appointments that are available to book close to the session date. Also, they always need to ensure we collect enough blood for patients, we also have a duty to ensure that we do not collect too much blood at any one time. Blood has a limited shelf life of just 35 days, so if they collect too much in a short period of time, they would be unable to use it all.

In the past NHS Blood have attempted to hold blood sessions at shopping centres but unfortunately it’s rare to get the green light from the venues due to the risk of the public being exposed to blood. However they often hold large scale recruitments events at universities and shopping centres across the country to register new donors. A recent example of this would be at the Arndale Centre in Manchester where they held an Organ Donation event that included a life size game of Operation. The event generated a great buzz around the centre and resulted in them recruiting 265 new organ donors in one day. A great success for NHS Blood and Transplant.

NHS Blood and Transplant do have celebrity support and they continue to try and work with celebrities, especially those who are blood donors and whose lives have been contributed by blood donations. Celebrity supporters have included: Gary Lineker, Jayne Torvill, Jovian Wade, Rachel Riley, Sarah Beeny, Graham Bell, Greg James Twin B and Amanda Holding However they have discovered that donors are more motivated by the experiences of ordinary people, for example family members or just regular people in the news who they better relate to, so they try and work with them more than celebrities to emphasise how blood donation saves lives.

I find public speaking difficult. No matter how much effort I put in behind the scenes ranging from drafting and re-drafting overheads to rehearsing the words during a walk. But I still get very nervous and my speech can end up like a Dalek on steroids !

YouTube is a good source for learning about public speaking from a wide range of excellent speakers( for examples see John Cleese on Creativity, TED Talks, and Brian Walden’s Talk on Heroes ), in particular the impressive way they “work the audience”. Recently, I stumbled across an unexpected source to study, a clip with the great bluesman BB King playing a gig in Sing Sing , one of New York’s state maximum security prison, and his performance followed the key elements of making a good public speech.

Conditions in New York state prisons had been deteriorating during the late sixties and early seventies reaching its lowest point in 1971 when there was a riot at Sing Sing ( Sing Sing got its name from the Native American tribe “Sinck Sinck” (or “Sint Sinck”), who the land was bought from in 1685) prison and 43 people were killed. Against this background David Hoffman in 1972, a film and documentary maker, had been working with prisoners in Sing Sing to make a documentary when he organized a Thanksgiving Day concert, which included BB King and Joan Baez. The following YouTube clip shows BB King starting his section of the concert with the song How Blue Can You Get:

You can’t fail to be drawn into the performance. So what can be learned ?

First know your audience, and why they are attending, in this case the gig ( or in our case a meeting, presentation, conference etc ). In other words what are their expectations. Of course in BB Kings’ case most of the audience didn’t want to be in prison; therefore turning up for the gig they would have been looking for entertainment to relieve the tedium.

Next is to catch the attention of the audience, and then hold it. BB starts his section with a few jokes that makes a link between himself and the audience. He then quietly plays a solo on his beloved guitar Lucille that settles the audience down and draws their attention to the stage. The song that he plays has a direct contact with the audience; it touches on life outside of prison. He then pulls the audience further into the performance, by play acting the role of the woman in the song.

The last point that can be taken from the video clip is to continue pulling the audience into the performance. The song builds up in three stages with a ‘punch line’ at each stage. This continues to draw in the audience step by step. Any comedian couldn’t have improved on the delivery of the final punch line, and the resulting audience reaction is a riot of cheering and laughter.

In summary: know your audience – why are they there and what is there expectations, grab their attention and hold onto it, and finally build up their interest until the final few lines are memorable. BB King had refined his showmanship over many years, which gives the final point. Although public speaking is difficult it is important to keep going; presenting different material to a wide range of audiences in different venues, and grow in confidence by learning from each event.