Nail by Nail What a 1979 TV Show Reveals About Innovating Today

If there’s a home remodeling show on, chances are my wife, Dawn, is watching it. She loves the design ideas. Me? I’m banned from the room. I can’t help yelling at the TV every time a crew acts shocked that a hundred-year-old house needs foundation work—or pretends they just now realized a wall was load-bearing. Don’t even get me started on how they skip over the real villains of any renovation: permits, variances, and nitpicking inspectors.

But one day, while sneaking a look from the hallway, it struck me: the original home renovation show, This Old House, the show that started it all, is a brilliant case study in service innovation.

Let’s tear into this idea a little. I think you’ll appreciate what we uncover.

When Budget Problems Build Legends

Imagine solving a budget crisis and accidentally igniting a cultural movement. That’s exactly what happened in 1979 at a Boston PBS station. Faced with shrinking funds and growing pressure to create local content, WGBH didn’t hatch a glossy, high-stakes plan. They launched This Old House, a modest, practical show about fixing up homes. No fanfare. No flashy marketing. Just a camera, real tradespeople, and an old Victorian house in desperate need of care.

What they built wasn’t just a hit series; it became a blueprint for lasting innovation—one every SMB executive should study.

Action Step: Next time you're facing resource constraints, ask: "What real, unmet need can we serve authentically with what we have right now?"

Innovation Isn’t Always About Big Ideas. It's About Big Needs.

WGBH didn’t invent homeownership. They didn’t invent DIY. But they recognized a quiet, growing demand. Post-WWII homeowners were aging into their houses. The '70s energy crisis made home upgrades a priority. And people were hungry for knowledge—real, practical, non-condescending guidance.

This Old House succeeded because it served a need that existed even if no one had said it out loud.

Action Step: Identify latent needs in your market—those unspoken gaps where people wish for better solutions, but aren't yet demanding them.

Holding the Stage: A Solid Foundation

This Old House didn’t just break ground; it owned the landscape. For seven years, it stood alone. It wasn't until 1986 that Hometime came along—a commercial venture produced independently, but airing on PBS. Even then, it took another four years before a true commercial renovation show, Bob Vila’s Home Again, appeared on commercial TV.

Today, there are dozens of home renovation, remodeling, and house-flipping shows on the air. Yet, the original—This Old House—is still standing. Still producing. Still connecting with viewers after more than four decades.

That kind of staying power doesn’t come from riding trends. It comes from continuing to serve needs so well, and with such authenticity, that even waves of imitators can’t wash you away.

Action Step: Don't fear imitators entering your space—fear becoming complacent and losing relevance. Focus on deepening the value you deliver and the loyalty you earn.

Authenticity: The Secret Ingredient Most Miss

Instead of slick actors and scripted miracles, This Old House showed warts-and-all renovations. Real plumbers sweating. Real carpenters swearing under their breath (and later being editing out). Real mistakes. And real victories.

This honesty forged trust. Trust built loyalty. And loyalty became longevity.

Today, audiences—and customers—crave authenticity more than ever. They can spot ‘polish without substance’ from a mile away.

Action Step: Look at your messaging, your services, even your customer experience. Where can you be more real—and in doing so, more relatable and trusted?

Small Local Start. Big Global Impact.

When it aired in 1979, This Old House was strictly local—a Boston show for Boston viewers. One year later, PBS syndicated it nationally. Why? Because genuine value doesn’t stay hidden for long.

You don’t have to launch your next big innovation on a massive stage. You just have to create something so relevant and engaging that it can’t help but spread.

Action Step: Pilot innovations locally or with a smaller audience. Prove real value before scaling up.

Evolve, or Watch Others Renovate Your Future

This Old House could have stayed stuck in 1979. Instead, it evolved—new hosts, new technologies, new distribution models. From Bob Vila to Norm Abram to Kevin O'Connor, the show remained true to its roots while growing with its audience.

Meanwhile, the genre exploded. Hometime, Bob Vila’s Home Again, Trading Spaces, Fixer Upper—each show a descendant, reshaping the format, but owing their existence to that first, simple concept.

Innovation isn't a one-time event. It's an ongoing conversation with changing customer needs.

Action Step: Set up regular checkpoints in your organization to revisit customer needs, market conditions, and your value proposition. Commit to evolving.

Instruction + Inspiration = Transformation

What made This Old House unique wasn’t just the teaching. It was the emotional arc: witnessing something broken get restored. Hope, resilience, transformation—woven into every project.

That's what true innovation does. It doesn't just solve a problem. It changes how people feel about their possibilities.

Action Step: When pitching innovations internally or externally, don’t just list features. Tell the emotional story of the transformation you’re enabling.

Closing Reflection: What Old House Are You Sitting On?

Maybe your company already has an "old house"—an overlooked product, a service taken for granted, an internal process nobody has thought to update. Maybe, like WGBH, you’re sitting on the next big thing without even realizing it.

The lesson from This Old House isn't just about TV. It's about paying attention. It's about realizing that innovation often starts where needs meet authenticity, and where small, honest beginnings have room to grow.

What could you renovate in your business today that might just shape an entire future tomorrow?

Action Step: Hold a "Renovation Brainstorm" with your team. Identify legacy processes, products, or practices that could be reimagined to create new value.

Interested in learning more? Let’s do an Innovation keynote or workshop with your team!

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Sometimes a team has big dreams, but no extra hands. The ideas are there. The urgency is there. But no one has the time or space to really run with it. That’s where I come in.

As a Transformation Navigator, I don’t just help you move forward—I help you move forward with direction. With purpose. After 35 years of building businesses from scratch—turning scrappy ideas into real companies—I’ve learned how to spot what’s possible, even when it’s buried under meetings, policies, or fear of rocking the boat. I’ve worked alongside leaders who needed to make a shift, fast. Not just to brainstorm, but to actually make things happen. And I’ve helped them do just that—whether it meant rethinking an outdated process or finally bringing that stalled idea to life.

Now I offer that same hands-on help as a Fractional Chief Innovation Officer (FCInO). Think of it like getting a seasoned co-pilot who doesn’t just chart the course, but helps you build the plane mid-flight. As your Transformation Navigator, I step in when you're navigating uncertainty, guiding your team through the fog of what-ifs toward bold, clear next steps.

If you're staring down market changes or trying to push past slow, safe progress, I can help you and your team take the leap. I also speak, run workshops, and consult on projects where you need a fresh set of eyes—and someone who’s not afraid to say, “There’s a better way.” I bring the compass and the map. You bring the mission. Together, we chart the course that turns today’s challenge into tomorrow’s momentum.

Let’s build what’s next. Not someday. Now. And let’s do it with purpose, not panic.

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