In academics, we were taught that problems in mathematics (perplexingly, often in humanities too) all have one exact answer. For the most part, this is completely true. All the problems you are given in school are well defined and posses known solutions. This is seldom the case in the real world when the problems you are posed with can be amorphous, poorly worded, or at worst, intractable. In the rare cases when an optimal solution to a real-world problem is found, this can lead to major advances and perhaps even a Ph.D. thesis.
There is a scene in Good Will Hunting where the title character and his colleague, Professor Gerald Lambeau, are shown working out the solution to a problem by walking up to a blackboard, chalking a few lines, and sitting back down smiling with the satisfaction that they solved it. If only it were that easy... and satisfying. Most of the time, the effort of finding solutions to open problems looks quite different.
It generally starts with one person working up the courage to share their pet theory about one thing or another. They painstakingly explain their idea to their colleagues and are met with varying levels of confusion and incredulity. If, by chance, our brave scholar succeeds in converting their fellows to their idea, an argument generally ensues when the new initiate poses some troubling questions of their own that have yet to be considered. Sometimes that's the end of it, but on rare occasions, this leads to the next phase of the process were all parties go away and try to puzzle out the implications of these issues. If this effort bears any fruit, they will return to the discussion proclaiming that they have found the answer. This is where the process starts all over again.
At some point in the unforeseeable future, all parties involved will begrudgingly admit that they can punch no more holes in the others’ work, and they will move to publish their findings. If the work passes peer review -- which simply means it doesn't contain any glaring violations of the known laws and it sufficiently confuses the reviewer -- it is published in some obscure journal. Alternatively, it could simply be posted to arxiv.org, but we won't get into that. Then one of three things will happen: a professor reads the article, spits out his coffee, and furiously writes a refutation that completely shatters the premise of the work; the article goes down in history as a valuable and insightful contribution to the field; or, as is most often the case, nothing, crickets, nobody cares. Nevertheless, our authors are happy. They've published, their jobs are safe, they're inching closer to tenure.
This is how real-world academic problems get solved. The picture in industry is totally different. An industry problem arises as a natural consequence of trying to achieve some goal. Until the problem is solved production is stalled, so a solution must be found quickly. The quickest and dirtiest "band-aid" solution is usually grasped at and applied. This usually involves some research (googling) and perhaps an intrepid engineer actually finds the answer in an academic paper, or more likely, Stack Exchange. The solution is rarely ideal, and it may, in fact, create problems of its own down the line. As long as it works and it poses no significant threat to public safety, it's declared "good enough" and the bosses are happy. Sometimes, when the engineer has good job security, certain problems could be overlooked in favor of saving time and money. This is the origin of the phrase "good enough for government work." Well, not really, that phrase actually used to stand for the high standards that government work was once held to. These days, it's meaning seems to have eroded slightly *cough*.
Here at Future Tech Lab, we always strive to find the most ideal solutions for our clients. We pride ourselves on our ability to meet the most difficult technical challenges head-on. We always aim to produce on-budget solutions that meet all requirements in a timely manner. Our goal is to make it right the first time so that it doesn't have to be fixed later. We work hard to minimize or eliminate technical debt by starting the project on a solid foundation. We cherish our clients and make every effort to ensure that our contribution to their projects is of the highest quality and value.