Jeff Bezos once said, “I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.”
As a solution provider or a practitioner, standing on the edge of that innovation precipice can be scary. What if this innovation does the quintessential belly flop and all that research and development money goes down the drain? What if it works but no one buys it? What if I put my credibility on the line and support this innovation inside my company and the trial doesn’t work? Belly flop again! Or, what if, just maybe, you hit upon an innovation that’s a real game changer?
Bezos was right, if you’re going to take chances, you have to be willing to deal with what comes afterward. Innovators can often be misunderstood. Putting your name behind an unproven technology or process is the ultimate act of business bravado. It takes guts. It takes grit. It takes patience.
In this special edition, we explore new technologies and innovations that are changing our industry. Some of these may seem far out there or the stuff of science fiction, like robots or artificial intelligence. We dive into these, and other innovations, headfirst to take the unknown out of the equation and leave you feeling better informed. Robots and AI are no longer the stuff of Isaac Asimov novels or Terminator movies; they have arrived.
We also look at other ways to approach employee cybercrime, employee interviews and technology, what’s new with RFID, and the ORCA databases. We hear from Tom Meehan, CFI, about a new buzzword in his article “Digital Twins in Retail”—another exciting tool for retailers. A special edition about innovation and technology would be remiss without a contribution from the LPRC. Cory Lowe, Phd, provides an overview of the newest tech they are looking into down in the Everglades, with some brutally honest observations about what we need to do on the human side to get these things to work.
You may not be ready to step off the cliff of your reputation for some of these new technologies, but with the speed at which technology is changing and the growing scope of retail crime’s impact on our society, you must stay informed. Then ask yourself, “Am I ready to jump and can I afford not to?”