differentiated thought before cutting metal

You're right! After 36 years in this stupid, tiny industry, I guess enough has sunk in that I pretend I know what I'm doing and I guess I've become an adequate brushmaker.

Reply to
Tom Gardner
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Great topic, Tom. I=92ve enjoyed reading the comments that it generated. Here are mine:

Group problem-solving methods (structured methods): Brainstorming:

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the wikipedia entry probably needs some good editing. It should define =93brainstorming before discussing potential deficiencies.) Brainstorming is primarily a group activity, although the wiki article does include a variation for individual brainstorming. As others may have mentioned, these brainstorming methods usually come and go in fashion, both in colleges and in companies. Although I haven=92t seen brainstorming used consistently, it probably has value in getting people together to talk and think about what they=92ve seen. Potential pitfalls of group brainstorming include:
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,
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are other structured problem-solving methods used in quality control, but they=92re usually more statistical and for larger more- structured companies. Not the breakthrough idea generation-type.

Problem-solving with individuals: As others in this thread have suggested, methods of managing employees (delegation) can help in solving problems. I read an article (a long while back) in the Nov/Dec. 1990 issue of Harvard Business Review by (the late) Ralph Stayer and really was impressed how he managed his company (Johnsonville Sausage). I think that I would have enjoyed working for someone like him. They only show part of the article here (they want you to purchase it), but it (or recent revisions) might be available through a local library.

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?sid=3DTCEFKOSNHWTHSAKRGW=DSELQBKE0YIISW&N=3D4294963821(I read his book Flight of the Buffalo, but it wasn=92t as much of a gem as the HBR article.)

Reply to
Denis G.

"Tom Gardner" wrote in news:Ny3wk.240$Z64.18 @flpi143.ffdc.sbc.com:

BTDT!

Reply to
RAM³

On Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:30:15 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Lew Hartswick quickly quoth:

I disagree to some extent, Lew. (Can you handle that capital in your name, dude? ;)

I think everyone is both psychic and creative, but most have simply had this muffled, usually during their schooling, where "everyone has to fit in." Peers who have had the same stifling upbringing are also now born and bred quenchers of ideas, either by social code or by ego. (If I'm not allowed to think it, you aren't, either!)

But most creative people can't do so under stresses like time limits or strict performance requirements. True creativity is a fleeting thing, and even a slight nudge or restriction can knock it out of kilter. The subconscious mind continues working on problems while we do other things. That's why so many ideas come to us after we have given up on them and moved to other tasks.

Self-confidence works wonders on creativity, but it has to be earned by the mind needing it, not given by someone else. Encouragement helps, like Pete said (+ removing your ego from their project), but it's the mind doing the work which needs to process things.

As to learning creativity, I think that's merely uncovering the muffler society has put on us, then unraveling it to get to our own kernel of truth and wonder.

-- Who is wise? He that learns from every One. Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. -- Benjamin Franklin

Reply to
Larry Jaques

More than adequate. You are still in business, and most of the other guys are long gone. It's still a matter of timing. when that final detail becomes clear, and things all come together.

Don't sell yourself short. You are in a business with a traditional manufacturing process, where change comes slow. If you had spare machines you could experiment with new ideas, but most companies wouldn't even allow a scaled down prototype, or to test an idea on an existing machine. My dad worked 25 years in the corrugated box industry in Ohio. Some of the machines were over 100 years old. They had a staff of machinists to make replacement parts, to keep them running. They didn't consider modernizing, until customers wanted bigger, one piece boxes. They gambled over a million dollars on a new machine, and it took a couple years to get it to full production. Then they started updating their other plants.

It's the same in your business. It's fun to design new machines and test new ideas, but it can't get in the way of day to day production.

Have you ever considered an online store for small orders? Even an Ebay or Yahoo store would help get the word out to people who have no clue that an American made brush was still available. BTW, you need to update the copyright date on your website. Some people consider a site abandoned when it is eight years out of date, and it could cost you some sales. Also, your page counter software from Bravenet is displaying an error message. I know they are minor details, but you want to keep up your image of top quality.

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

In the old days my Father worked at RCA, back before RCA became a joke, back when RCA was making parts of the would become the Lunar Lander. I worked at RCA as a summer employee. This was the mid 1960s.

The problem was that if a cordwood module somewhere in the middle of the coldplate failed, one had to remove all the good modules from one edge inward to the module, so one could get a hot knife under the bad module. Very expensive, and broke a lot of perfectly good modules.

Then, one of the hourly people came up with a better way: Put a hook (made of a paperclip) under one corner of the bad module, with a rubber band to something nearby, put the whole thing in the 180 F oven, and go have a coffee. When you came back, the module was dangling in the air, undamaged, with no collateral damage. This worked because the urethane adhesive attaching module to coldplate was prone to creep, especially when nice and warm.

It was amazing how many reasons it wouldn't work Engineering came up with. You know the drill - a few months later, someone in Engineering would come up with a variant, and collect the bonus.

I pushed my Father, and after some effort he refuted the reasons, and the true inventor did get the bonus.

Afterwards, it was amazing how fast my Father's work orders got through the shop.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joseph Gwinn

Developing creativity can be done in many ways. You could divide your "creativity program" into two parts: immediate plans and long-term strategies.

Some of the immediate things that can be done have been suggested by others, for example, having notebooks on hand at all times; writing down your ideas; thinking about the problem "in the background" or overnight; and using the "tail end" of a solution as the starting point for the next iteration.

The long-term plan for developing creativity involves constant exposure to new and stimulating ideas. How is this done? One way is to foster a culture of constant learning among your employees. Do your people go home and watch TV, or do they go home and read books? Something as simple as a "reading club" whereby you acquire and lend to your employees a constant stream of inspiring and creative books. Although these books could be strictly about metalworking, you're likely to achieve better results with a broad array of subjects. It might take years for the full results to be seen, but constant stimulation like this will almost certainly yield long-term results as you increase your collective brainpower. Of course, you'll have to figure out a way for your employees to "buy in" on this idea and devote the time to improving their brains. Find a way to make it fun and rewarding.

Another thing you can do to help "see" new ideas is for everyone to take drawing classes. Learning to see something, and then accurately reproduce it on paper, is a skill of tremendous value. Ultimately you learn to "see" in your mind's eye, and it becomes much easier to transfer your ideas to paper.

As you work on these strategies for developing creativity, document the "great ideas" as they come up. For example, your "fishing inspiration" story you mentioned later on in the thread. Each time someone comes up with a great idea, write down the story of the birth of that idea. Ultimately, you'll have a book of these stories which will serve as inspiration and "institutional knowledge" for new members of your team.

Reply to
Jedd Haas

Interesting chords you have struck! My first degree is in fine arts and I've always thought mechanisms were art. I "see" shafts and bearings and gears and such do things. Then it's easy to draw it up and make it. It's an extension of my art days. My team does the same thing. We DO have a lot of enjoyment. One of the guys, Roger, stays up late at night like I do and we call each other at 2:00 AM when we get an idea about what we are working on.

Thanks for responding with such good thoughts!

Reply to
Tom Gardner

--Coming late to the party but check out a book titled "Conceptual Blockbusting" from Stanford University Press. Very much up this alley..

Reply to
steamer

Tom,

That's why we talk about the "Art of Engineering"!

Engineering is by no means a science, but is the art of applying scientific principles to real-world problems. To do this at an economical cost requires experience, judgment, and ability.

I believe one requirement towards success in this field is the ability to think in pictures.

'Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment".

Wolfgang

Reply to
wfhabicher

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