Outside the box is getting crowded

I hitchhiked to northern California, years ago, in an effort to find some Canadian friends with whom I had lived in Canada. I found them living with a swarm of people in the beautiful hills. After hugs, handshakes, and introductions, I asked for a cool drink of water. This topic shifted the conversation to a more serious tone.

Apparently, the water well plastic pipe connection to the old iron hand pump had come loose a week or more before my arrival leaving this somewhat nebulous group to borrow drinking water from neighbors a half-mile away.

For the duration of the broken pipe situation, attempts to retrieve the pipe, the top of which was eight to ten feet into the hole, were ongoing and varied. Yet the attempts to grasp the top portion of the pipe in order to haul the 30-foot, or so, length out of the hole, had basically taken the same failed approach: attempt to lasso the pipe.

The humorous definition of insanity was at work here: repeatedly doing the same things while expecting different results.

I was asked look over the situation and offer my two cents. To me, what did NOT work, was pretty clear.

Solution: Try the opposite.

By using nail, bent to form an off center mounting point for a length of lashing cord, I was able to secure and pull out the pipe in less than 15 minutes total. The pointy end of the nail was on the short side of the mount, so when suspended from a rope the pointed end would always be naturally higher.

The other key was to make the final length modified nail only slightly longer than the diameter of pipe. Then, feeding the makeshift device INTO the pipe, short end first, then yanking the cord to wedge the device against the inner walls of the pipe, a firm grasp in the pipe was established. The only tricky part was in feeding the device short end first into the pipe. We accomplished this with a temporary loose wrap of thread which held the long end of the nail against the cord giving us enough time to carefully feed it into the pipe.

How does this apply to design or marketing?

Sometimes a group dynamic is not a good thing; too many people standing around looking at trees without seeing the forest.

History shows that the best solutions don’t come from groups, from being stuck on stupid. Real change comes from those who don’t just THINK “different.” They ACT on their thinking, unswayed by those who think they’re crazy. Ask Steve Jobs.

Years ago, without the slightest hint that California would become my permanent home, I hitchhiked to northern California in an effort to find some Canadian friends with whom I had lived in Canada. I found them living in the beautiful hills with a swarm of people whose numbers and members seemed to change by the minute. My surprise visit created a happy reunion.

After hugs, handshakes, and introductions, I asked for a cool drink of water which immediately shifted the conversation to a more serious tone. The water well’s plastic pipe connection to the old iron hand pump had come loose a week or more before my arrival leaving this somewhat nebulous group high and dry.

The top of the roughly 30-foot length of pipe was located about 10 feet below the ground surface. Attempts to grasp it and haul it out of the hole, while varied, had basically taken the same failed approach: trying to lasso the pipe. The humorous definition of insanity was at work here: repeatedly doing the same things while expecting different results.

My Canadian pal suggested we look at it. What did not work, seemed pretty clear.

Solution: Try the opposite.

Using a nail fastened on the end of a long length of lashing cord, my buddy and I were able to secure and pull out the pipe in less than 15 minutes total.

The secret was to simply feed the device into the pipe where a firm yank on the cord wedged the device against the inner walls of the pipe, establishing a non-slip grip. This allowed us to pull up the string of plastic water pipe, with valve on the end, to where we could get our hands on it and finish removing it for maintenance and repair.

How does this apply to design or marketing?

Sometimes a group dynamic is not a good thing. It leads to too many people standing around looking at trees without seeing the forest. Reheating what everyone else is doing. Flocking to the latest buzz. Groupthink. Effectively, stuck on stupid.

History shows that the best solutions seldom come from groups. Real change comes from those who don’t just think “different.” They act on their different thinking, unswayed by those who think they’re crazy. Just ask Steve Jobs.

Sometimes when so many rush to think outside the box, they miss the obvious solutions inside.

I bet some of you have similar stories. Comments?

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Addendum

This recollection came to mind today as suddenly my inner light bulb came on regarding a current positioning project. It was one of those slap-your-forehead moments, lighting the way for a 180-degree  approach to a client’s growing marketplace dilemma. My ego hopes that in the months to come I’ll be able to reveal what a grand success it was.

Addendum Part 2 — 6/25/09

More about Steve Jobs from a Fortune article at CNN.com

In 1985, Sculley orchestrated Jobs’ firing after a power struggle. And for the company: “Apple was supposed to become a wonderful consumer products company,” Sculley wrote. “This was a lunatic plan. High tech could not be designed and sold as a consumer product.” Of course, Sculley was dead wrong. — CNN Money “The Trouble with Steve Jobs” March 4, 2008[1]

Sculley’s firing Jobs personifies the “kill the messenger syndrome.” The corporate world is full of those in high places who feel threatened when they stand next to any degree of brilliance and vision. The typical reaction is to haul out the axe.

C.

[1] “The Trouble with Steve Jobs” March 4, 2008

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