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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 2 2 Parent company of Jay Mill being sold e company that two years ago bought the former Verso paper mill in Jay after an investor revolt — and later oversaw the plant through more tumult including a series of layoffs — is itself being bought. Pixelle Specialty Solutions Holding LLC, based in Pennsylvania, has agreed to sell to H.I.G. Capital, an alternative investment firm with offices worldwide and $48 billion in equity capital under management. Terms were not disclosed. A news release said the deal is subject to regulatory approvals but is expected to close this quarter. Pixelle was formed in 2018 by Lindsay Goldberg & Co. LLC, a New York private investment firm. e company acquired the Jay mill, along with one in Wisconsin, from Verso Corp. (NYSE: VRS) for $400 million in February 2020. A S K AC E A n s w e r e d b y D e b M i l l s - S c o f i e l d , F i n d i n g B l u e L o b s t e r s , B r o w n U n i v e r s i t y The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a non-profit association of independent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Q: I worry that my business will fall into the trap of designing innovative products in response to problems we assume are waiting to be solved. How can we test those assumptions first? ACE advises: What is innovation? One definition is a new, unique, meaningful solution(s) to a problem. What is our default, instinctual response when we see a problem? What was the first thing you did the last time you were faced with a problem at work — be it internal or customer-facing? When faced with a problem, we tend to immediately rush to figuring out solutions, with our tacit, subconscious assumptions of the situation, people, etc. influencing our perspective. We start solving before even trying to discover the constraints and context around the problem, in fact sometimes before even discovering if there really is a prob- lem for those involved. For innovation to succeed, try developing a "rush to dis- cover" mindset. Get out of the office and rush to learn as much as you can, as fast and thor- oughly as you can to under- stand the problem. Who is it a problem for? Why is it a problem for them? When is it a problem for them? What current solu- tions or workarounds are they using? Gain a deep understand- ing of the problem and the land- scape around it. Watch your intended customers before, during and after they are dealing with the problem. Then, you can identify the make-or-break hypotheses to test as you iteratively prototype solutions for feedback from your intended customers, consumers, users, Rushing to discover need not take a long time — but it needs to be based on our objective understanding of the problem from the perspective of the customer, not us! With this understand- ing, you can create a compelling, valuable solution that meets, even exceeds, needs, solving real problems in real ways. Deb Mills-Scofield of Finding Blue Lobsters helps companies see what is possible and implement plans to achieve it. She is co-creator of Brown University's cognitive science concentration and is currently Brown's Mentoring Maven, member of the School of Engineering's advisory council, adjunct lecturer and advisor to many programs. Deb can be reached at DMS@findingbluelobsters.com Interested in Innovation? Register for ACE's May 22 program, Innovation with Bernard Hidier, presented in partnership with the Portland Regional Chamber, bit.ly/3BvR6Sc @ C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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