3 More Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts About Innovation

73. Build a prototype that works anyway you can. This means taking apart blenders for parts. Then build a protoype that works using parts that look similar to those that will be used in manufacturing. Then build five prototypes that work. You are now ready to release tooling. You will do all of these steps regardless of if you planned to or not.

74. Building a prototype that uses parts similar to those that will be used in the final version probably means buying custom parts from someone else. This will always take longer than you would like.

75. No one will believe you will you tell them how long it will take for#74 and will press to go from the first working prototype to tooling. Resist as much as possible. The time that you save upfront will be spent 10x on modifying the tooling and airfreight trying to dial in the design.

Link to the originial 72

Memorial Day

Thanks.

Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetary: Link

On Vacation

Off to sunny Florida for a couple of days. Be back on Tuesday May 29, 2007.

Image via www.funny-potato.com/funny-planes-1.html

Rain? It's Sunny Out Now.

Quick, based on just looking outside should you take an umbrella to work today?

Since it was clear and sunny this morning I did not take my umbrella and when I got to work I checked NOAA and saw this.
It's pretty amazing how quickly your frame of reference can change with a new piece of data.

Granted, it's not always possible to wait for all the information to come in, but it's important to be actively searching for data. By actively searching for context you have a better chance of findng the one thing that changes everything.

Innovation Zen

It's a Small World
Package leaves Shenzhen, China at 3:47pm on 5/9. It arrives at 9:27am in Lititz, PA on 5/10. Halfway around the world in 30 hours.

Fact That May Only Interest Me
Eleven states predict the future need for prison cells based on the reading levels of their fourth graders. Link

Less Is More
“Single-tasking,” creating an environment that permits the start-to-finish completion of high impact tasks, will be the defining feature of top performers in a world of ADD-enabling technologies. - Tim Ferriss in The Low Information Diet: How To Eliminate E-Mail Overload and Triple Productivity in 24 Hours. Link

Speaking Of Less Is More
I took Tim Ferriss' advice and now only check e-mail three times a day; when I get to work, before lunch, and before I leave. That's it. I also forced myself to deal (respond, file, something) to each e-mail that I received today. I easily saved an hour today and don't ever have to deal with today's e-mail again.

Removing Constraints

What to do when things go wrong on your project? The easiest thing to do when things fall behind is start leaning. Hard. Leaning doesn’t require a lot of words or posturing, just an unsaid implication to the team that it’s their ass if things don’t come together quickly. Leaning is easy to do and it does get results.

I don’t believe in leaning for a couple of reasons. First it only works when people have the capability, but lack the motivation. To be successful people need to be capable and motivated, so it stands to reason that if something is not getting done it means that are either incapable, they don’t have the needed resources or skills to accomplish the task, or they are unmotivated, they fail to understand what’s in it for them. What’s the point of leaning on someone who lacks the ability to perform?

Secondly, leaning on someone only works short term. People don’t feel good about being leaned on and will engage in dysfunctional behaviors in order to avoid being put into the same situation again. So, while you may get short term results, you’ve damaged the person’s output for the long run.

Instead of performing “the lean” I like to ask, “What constraints can we remove to make X happen by Y?” My motivation is not that we work a lot more hours, although sometimes that’s necessary, rather the goal of my questioning is to spur creative thinking on how to most efficiently use of the resources that are available to us.

Removing constraints does not mean enabling your team to avoid consequences. There are real ramifications for missing deadlines. Rather, removing constraints is about helping the team meet the goal while treating them like people.

Neat Idea

Soda and cookies aren't that exciting...unless they are at your oil change center. The folks at Landis Lube and Wash get that it can be pretty borning while I am waiting for the car to be done, so they help ease the wait with a soda and a snack.

Not a big deal right? Well, it isn't a big deal except that all things being equal (price, quality, location, wait) I am going to go with the free soda. Instead of seeing the soda as a cost center they realize that it's an order winner.

As more and more of you work in the service economy, what simple things can your business do to be different?

Innovative Mulch Delivery

What's amazing about this picture is that I live in a tract development. The tractor had to come a ways to deliver mulch to the neighbors.

Neat Idea

How putting a detergent style pour back spout onto a lawn mower? I can't tell you how many times I spill gas over the mower trying to maximized the amount of gas I pour into the mower.