Creativity is not black magic, it is a basic developed skill.
Would you like the cheat sheet?
Cracking Creativityby Micheal Michalko
http://eastbook.com/cracreate.html
What is possible - possibleness
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Cracking Creativity
Creativity is not black magic, it is a basic developed skill.
Would you like the cheat sheet?
The Pot What is possible
What is Possible (The Pot)
The Washing Machine
Our Client, a smaller Chocolatier, had a great success. The owners' creativity produced a new product that sold at 100 times anything they had made before. A wonderful problem - How to multiply volume dramatically, quickly and with no loss of their distinct quality.
What was possible and their creativity had been demonstrated, but in production the problems seemed stone age. We lost 3 of 45 days of production because the chocolate molds were not cleaned and dried for the next day.
One person said "Why not clean them in bunches instead of all at once?" A good idea.
The next person said "Why not buy a few extra and rotate them?" Another good idea.
Melvin said "I have been asking for a washing machine for a year!"
Can we afford this?
Dishwasher - $4,635 plus installation
vs. the sum of these costs
2 people washing molds at $9 per hour x 2 for 48 hours per week each $864 per week
PLUS profit on 10% added capacity $910 per day or $4,665 per week
PLUS an occasional Profit on one day's lost production $6,000 per day
We bought the washing machine and put a brass plaque on it dubbing it "Melvin"
http://chocolatepotpourri.com
The Washing Machine
Our Client, a smaller Chocolatier, had a great success. The owners' creativity produced a new product that sold at 100 times anything they had made before. A wonderful problem - How to multiply volume dramatically, quickly and with no loss of their distinct quality.
What was possible and their creativity had been demonstrated, but in production the problems seemed stone age. We lost 3 of 45 days of production because the chocolate molds were not cleaned and dried for the next day.
One person said "Why not clean them in bunches instead of all at once?" A good idea.
The next person said "Why not buy a few extra and rotate them?" Another good idea.
Melvin said "I have been asking for a washing machine for a year!"
Can we afford this?
Dishwasher - $4,635 plus installation
vs. the sum of these costs
2 people washing molds at $9 per hour x 2 for 48 hours per week each $864 per week
PLUS profit on 10% added capacity $910 per day or $4,665 per week
PLUS an occasional Profit on one day's lost production $6,000 per day
We bought the washing machine and put a brass plaque on it dubbing it "Melvin"
http://chocolatepotpourri.com
Do Something Different - Change your Environment
Meeting a client for lunch today, at a great Chicago spot called Kiki's Bistro, I was one hour early. Although I have had dinner there 20 times, I never had lunch. The ambiance was different and wonderful. The new experience helped my brain unscramble and it was easy to do an hour of thought work. The Country French lunch was the same price as a commercial Pizza in this city. http://kikisbistro.com
what is possible -possibleness
what is possible -possibleness
Learning from Others
"I learned from the talents of John Belushi and Bill Murray, it was best to find the smartest people in the room and hang around them"
Harold Ramis writer, actor, director, producer of NPR in November
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000601/
Harold Ramis writer, actor, director, producer of NPR in November
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000601/
Friday, November 18, 2005
What is possible
Potential (What is the pot?)
Working for a FORTUNE 25 company, we used the formal Cost of Quality calculations to determine how much we were spending on poor quality http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/cost-of-quality/overview/overview.html.
It was great. Using the basic categories we were able to determine how much we were spending on a routine problem. We knew the "pot"ential savings? We therefore knew how much we could spend to fix it. How basic and elegant! It led to action and positive results.
Within a few years it was just a measure in an operating review. It had become another measure to be beat up with. It was never again associated with "What is Possible." Puff slipped into his cave.
This is an example of how people get in or out of their possibleness mode.
Working for a FORTUNE 25 company, we used the formal Cost of Quality calculations to determine how much we were spending on poor quality http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/cost-of-quality/overview/overview.html.
It was great. Using the basic categories we were able to determine how much we were spending on a routine problem. We knew the "pot"ential savings? We therefore knew how much we could spend to fix it. How basic and elegant! It led to action and positive results.
Within a few years it was just a measure in an operating review. It had become another measure to be beat up with. It was never again associated with "What is Possible." Puff slipped into his cave.
This is an example of how people get in or out of their possibleness mode.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Panic Muda (muda = waste)
Attended a wonderful webinar on the future of manufacturing. One of the discussion leaders described worrying about all manufacturing going to China and all services going to India as "Panic Muda (waste). "It cannot happen! The political and currency ramifications will not be allowed to happen! James Womack author of The Machine that Changed the World
The webinar then went on to outline the positive possibilities
Visit the particpants and sponsors
Industry Week www.industryweek.com
The MPI Group www.mpi-group.net/default.asp
James Womack www.lean.org
Grant Thornton www.grantthornton.com/cip
The webinar then went on to outline the positive possibilities
Visit the particpants and sponsors
Industry Week www.industryweek.com
The MPI Group www.mpi-group.net/default.asp
James Womack www.lean.org
Grant Thornton www.grantthornton.com/cip
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