Engineers
The Difference between Focusing on Problems and
Focusing on Solutions
Case 1
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into
space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at
zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing
surface). To solve this problem, it took them one
decade and $12 million.
They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity,
upside down, underwater, in practically any surface
including crystal and in a temperature range from
below freezing to over 300 degrees Cel. And what did
the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.
Case 2
One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese
management was the case of the empty soap box, which
happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics
companies. The company received a complaint that a
consumer had bought a soap box that was empty.
Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to
the assembly line, which transported all the
packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department.
For some reason, one soap box went through the
assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers
to solve the problem.
Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an
X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by
two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed
through the line to make sure they were not empty.
No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but
they spent a whoopee amount to do so.
But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company
was posed with the same problem, he did not get into
complications of X-rays, etc.,but instead came out
with another solution. He bought a strong industrial
electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He
switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the
fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the
line.
Moral
Always look for simple solutions. Devise the
simplest possible solution that solves the problems
The Difference between Focusing on Problems and
Focusing on Solutions
Case 1
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into
space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at
zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing
surface). To solve this problem, it took them one
decade and $12 million.
They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity,
upside down, underwater, in practically any surface
including crystal and in a temperature range from
below freezing to over 300 degrees Cel. And what did
the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.
Case 2
One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese
management was the case of the empty soap box, which
happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics
companies. The company received a complaint that a
consumer had bought a soap box that was empty.
Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to
the assembly line, which transported all the
packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department.
For some reason, one soap box went through the
assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers
to solve the problem.
Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an
X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by
two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed
through the line to make sure they were not empty.
No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but
they spent a whoopee amount to do so.
But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company
was posed with the same problem, he did not get into
complications of X-rays, etc.,but instead came out
with another solution. He bought a strong industrial
electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He
switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the
fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the
line.
Moral
Always look for simple solutions. Devise the
simplest possible solution that solves the problems
