article-one:
Dear Dr. Sigma:
Recently I heard TOC founder Eli Goldratt quoting
Aristotle regarding something about "leverage points." What was that all about?
Sincerely—Captain Cupholder
Dear Captain:
Actually, Dr. Goldratt was talking about the ancient scientist,
Archimedes (that’s okay, they both begin with ‘A’). Anyways, he was
explaining the need for companies to focus on critical change elements rather than
hopelessly chasing efficiency windmills like Don Quixote. Put another way, every company
today has pressure to make dramatic improvements with very little time to show results.
What you need is a method for identifying the "leverage points", those things
with the highest rate of return for the resources you put into them. If you look at most
process methodologies, the good ones inherently guide you to focus on getting the big bang
for your buck.
To complete the answer to your question, Archimedes was a Greek
mathemetician and inventor who lived from 287-212 BC. During a demonstration on the
physics of the lever to King Heiro, the monarch under which he served at the time,
Archimedes mentioned that if there were another world, and he could travel to it, he could
then find the leverage point and move the world on which they stood. The King was
fascinated with these ideas and soon required they be used to invent new offensive and
defensive warfare technology, such as the catapult (or perhaps an anti-missile system).
The more things change, the more they stay the same, but that's for another day.
By the way, congratulations to Dr. Goldratt and his wife, who
recently celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary.
--Dr. Sigma
Dear Dr. Sigma:
I was at a Management Roundtable conference and
was given a copy of Clayton Christensen’s litmus test for potentially disruptive
technologies. Unfortunately, the airline lost my luggage, along with my copy of the
document. Can you reprint that list for me?
Best Regards—Inside Intel
Dear Inside:
Sorry to hear about the luggage. Let’s hope that airline gets
disrupted soon. Here’s the list --
Litmus test for high-potential disruptive innovations:
A given technology could be disruptive if…
- It is technologically simple
- It starts at a low price point
- It minimizes infrastructural & regulatory barriers -- follows the
path of least resistance
- It’s success isn’t predicated upon customers’
behavioral change
- It enables a larger population of less-skilled people to conveniently
do something that only expensive specialists historically could do.
For more information on disruptive technology, go to http://www.roundtable.com/Follow_up/Disruptive00/Disruptive99-followup.html
--Dr. Sigma
Dear Dr. Sigma:
My colleagues claim our product development
problems would be solved by one of the current software packages now available in the
"collaboration tools" category. I say "a fool with a tool is still a
fool." We’ve been burned before by technology. What do you think?
Sincerely yours—Neo Luddite
Dear Neo:
I say garbage in, garbage out. Most software that enables product
development are capable of making a good thing great, but only real fairy dust can make a
silk purse out of a sow’s ear. (Hey, if you’re gonna use that fool/tool
line, I can clichι with the best of them). Bottom line, I agree with you. Don’t
look to software to solve your problems. If your current process sucks, the only thing
software will do is help you suck faster. However, information is the lifeblood of any
organization, and it is a cruel mistress indeed. Information defects are as damaging as
manufacturing defects, and are equal, if not superior, to them in causing their fair share
of rework, lost time and poor market performance.
According to Dr. Paul Strassmann, 40% of corporate compensation expenses are allocated to
employees involved in managing information. This means that a little less than half of
your HR overhead is spent on CIOs, help desk staff, MIS folks and others who on average
won't stay with your company longer than 2 years. In terms of ROI, I don't think I would
be alone in thinking this looks exactly like the opposite of a "leverage point".
Dr. Strassmann sometimes likens this to drug addiction. I don’t know of any big
company who’s found a way out of this trap.
--Dr. Sigma
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article-two:
On The Web: It Takes
a Global Village to Raise a Global Product
In anticipation of our upcoming event on " Design Anywhere,
Manufacture Anywhere", below are some links to articles and other information
resources relating to the management of globally distributed teams:
- DEFUNCT - The
Detroit News - "The
Future Hinges on Global Teams" - This article from December 1998 focuses on the
automotive industry and shows that the issues behind making global teams successful have
not changed, while the pressure to achieve them has increased.
- CIO Magazine - "Global
Efficiency - Team Heat" - From September 1998, this article takes a high level
look at cultural issues, citing examples from numerous companies.
Know a website we should review?
Send the url to gregg@roundtable.com
article-three:
Top Ten Product Development T-Shirts
...from the MRT satellite office in
Venice Beach, CA
| 10. |
I'm
only here until the options vest |
9. |
Co-ed
naked software developers always release on schedule |
8. |
They
can take my Palm Pilot away when they pry it loose from my cold dead PC cradle unit |
| 7. |
I can
only satisfy one customer per day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow's not looking very good
either. |
| 6. |
You
call them mosquitoes - God calls them features. |
| 5. |
My
company became ISO9000 certified and all I got was this lousy t-shirt |
| 4. |
Free
Wen Ho Lee! |
| 3. |
My
long-term goal is to work for a high tech startup, design mediocre products, drink lots of
free soda and then leave in 8 months |
| 2. |
If you
can read this, we're co-located |
...and the No. 1 product development t-shirt: |
| 1. |
My TOC
Jonah can beat up your Lean Sensei |
Send me your Top Ten
List suggestions - gregg@roundtable.com
TCP Top Ten
List Archive
Interested in
sponsoring this newsletter?
For a list of terms and rates, send an e-mail to gregg@roundtable.com or click here.
article-four:
MRT News - 2001 Events and Innovation Articles
We've recently announced our first two conferences
for 2001:
As part of our new workshop, "Innovation @ Warp Speed", we've posted
several articles on our website discussing the challenges of innovation and ways to manage
innovation when faced with the threats of disruptive technology. To read our list of white papers and
learn about the workshop, click here.
— * —
Upcoming MRT Events
  
 
— * —
A D M I N I S T R I V I A
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