The biggest innovation of all: understanding
This article is part of Big Squirrel’s “Small Bites” series – short, easily digestible musings from our team, designed to get you thinking.
After decades of false starts, scientists are progressing in xenotransplantation—transplanting gene-edited pig organs into humans (in case you want to work that into your next casual conversation). New surgeries are breaking survival records. The remaining barriers are equal parts biology and belief: immune rejection, viral risk, and public discomfort. The science might soon be right. But will people be ready?
Read the original article: The Organ Farm
Here’s the question: When innovation outruns acceptance, what does doing what’s right look like? Is it pressing forward…or pausing to bring people along?
Why does this matter now?
Telling the wrong story can fail a breakthrough even if the data, process, and framework are right. Progress is littered with moments when being scientifically right clashed with what was misunderstood. The same tension lives inside brands today: speed vs. stewardship, novelty vs. nuance, correct vs. curious.
For Big Squirrel, this is the cautionary tale of the modern innovator. Great ideas require not only precision but also understanding, and doing what’s right means designing for belief as much as biology. Progress only sticks when people trust the hands shaping it.