Impact doesn’t begin with ideas. It starts with clarity.

I was discussing this recently with Michael Rowbotham, a senior commercial leader in life sciences. He put it simply:

“You have to be very clear about what you are solving for. It is easy to fall into the trap of finding a problem for the solution or experiment you want to run.”

That point cuts to the heart of why so many projects drift.

Not because of bureaucracy.

Not because of the process.

But because the focus shifts to the solution instead of the problem.

In those early moments of commissioning, a persuasive stakeholder, a new technology, or the excitement around an idea can easily overshadow the purpose. The discipline is not in exploring ideas. It is in clarifying the problem before anything else takes shape.

Creativity is often not what organisations lack. The real challenge is ambition that attaches itself to the wrong thing, usually too early.

Here are five early warning signs that a project is at risk of low impact.

1. The idea arrives before the problem

If conversations start with “We want to build this” or “We are adding AI”, the solution already has priority. A clear problem statement should come first. If it does not, the foundations are already weak.

2. The team cannot articulate the customer friction in one sentence

A meaningful problem is simple to explain. A vague one needs slides. If a team cannot explain what customers struggle with, directly and without jargon, the problem is not understood well enough to justify investment.

3. Enthusiasm is internal, not external

If teams love the idea but customers have not validated the need, the work is misaligned before it begins. Internal excitement is not evidence. Research is inexpensive compared to delivery, but people often avoid it because they do not want to hear that the idea will not land.

4. No one knows how success will be measured

A quiet but reliable red flag. If success metrics are vague, postponed, or treated as an afterthought, accountability is weak. Success criteria should guide the work. If a team cannot define what good looks like before delivery begins, it usually means they are not confident the outcome will matter.

5. The problem is real, but not a priority

Some problems are genuine but too small to justify investment. Teams often choose issues that are interesting, familiar, or easier to progress. But if the customer pain is not significant or the organisational benefit is not meaningful, the solution will never scale. Solving the wrong real problem is still solving the wrong problem.

Michael also shared that he has seen teams identify customer pain points that were genuine, but not theirs to solve. Some issues sat firmly within the healthcare system. Others depended on behaviours or processes far outside their influence. The instinct to help is strong, but not every problem belongs to every organisation.

And this is where many projects quietly begin to unravel.

A problem looks important.

A solution looks exciting.

Someone senior feels optimistic.

And suddenly the team is deep into something they cannot meaningfully change.

Momentum does not disappear because teams fail to deliver. It disappears because they were never in a position to succeed.

This is why the first filter in any innovation effort should be simple:

Is this a problem we are responsible for, capable of influencing, and credible in solving?

If the answer is no, progress will be slow and impact will be limited.

There is another dynamic worth acknowledging. The majority of stakeholders are incentivised to do something new rather than improve what already exists, or decline the investment.

A new launch feels tangible on a CV. It looks decisive. It signals progress.

Incremental improvement rarely gets the same recognition, even though it is often more valuable for the organisation.

Just as healthcare systems incentivise treatment rather than prevention, internal teams are often incentivised to build something rather than decline something that will not have impact.

This pressure distorts decision making more than most people realise.

Momentum returns when organisations focus on problems that genuinely matter and where they have the clarity, legitimacy, and capability to act.

Three principles help keep teams on track.

1. Start with undeniable customer pain point

If customers are not struggling, the idea has no anchor. Innovation must begin with real friction, not speculative value. This is the anchor which will persist through the life of the project.

2. Confirm you have a legitimate role

Healthcare systems are complex. Not every organisation can or should solve every issue. Impact comes from focusing on the problems you are uniquely placed to influence.

3. Use evidence and create evidence

Most organisations need a better memory of the insight they already hold. Before building anything, ask:

What proof exists that the problem is worth solving, and what proof will tell us if our intervention is working?

A successful launch is not the finish line. Evidence of impact is.

The organisations that thrive are not the ones who do the most, but the ones who choose the right problems to solve. They understand the difference between movement and progress, and they build their work around clarity of purpose, a legitimate role to play, and evidence that the effort is worth it.

Innovation maturity has little to do with frameworks or ceremonies. It is rooted in focus. And momentum does not come from moving quickly for its own sake. It comes from concentrating on the problems that genuinely matter.

Innovation rarely fails because organisations lack ideas, talent, or technology. It fails because they invest in problems that were never theirs to solve. When clarity sharpens and teams focus on the challenges where they have a meaningful role, momentum returns quickly and impact becomes far more measurable.