The Juicero Effect

Here's a story that'll make you laugh and cry.

Juicero raised $120 million to build a $700 WiFi-connected juicer that squeezed pre-made packets.

When reporters discovered you could squeeze the packets by hand, the company collapsed overnight.

I mean... by hand. Like, with your actual hands.

Here's what's happening: we're wired to believe sophisticated problems need sophisticated solutions.

Simple solutions feel… insufficient. 

Don't they? 

Like we're not trying hard enough.

In most organizations, the person suggesting the simple solution gets labeled as "not thinking strategically."

The person who builds the framework gets the promotion.

We all know this dance. 

We've created incentive systems that reward complexity over effectiveness.

Before building anything complex, ask: "What's the simplest thing that could work?"

Then, here's the hard part… try that first.

(I know... it feels too easy.)

Once you see the Juicero Effect, you can't unsee it.

The meeting that could've been an email. 

The process that takes five steps instead of one.

Smart people devaluing simpler solutions because they don't feel smart enough.

The hand-squeezing realization is always coming… and it's always embarrassing.