SIMPLE
SOLUTIONS
Does
a complex challenge require a complex solution? The popular answer is yes;
after all a political problem requires a political solution, an administrative
problem requires an administrative solution, and a spiritual problem requires a
spiritual solution, so why shouldn’t a complex problem come with a complex
solution?
That
thinking is so flawed even though it is so popular and ingrained in us.
Consider these:
When
the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began the
launch of astronauts into space, they found out that their pens would not work
at zero gravity (ink will not flow down to the writing surface).
Solution
1: 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 C.
Solution 2: And what did the Russians do...? They used a pencil.
Solution 2: And what did the Russians do...? They used a pencil.
One
of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the
empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan’s biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soapbox 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 soapbox went through the assembly line empty.
Management
asked its engineers to solve the problem.
Solution
1: Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with
high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soapboxes 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 whooping amount to do so, not
mentioning the additional recurrent cost of personnel and maintenance the new
technology incurred.
Solution
2: 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 soapbox
passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.
Now
what is the problem you are faced with as an individual? What is the problem
you are faced with in your life? The problem may be complex, but should the
solution also be complex?
When
you know the problem, pause and think, the solution may be simpler than you
think.
So
we ask the question again: Does a complex challenge require a complex solution?
