Innovation Rainmakers

Principle

21. Rushing Through

a. Perform harmful or hazardous operations at very high speed

Principle Description: If something goes wrong at a given speed move it faster.

Hints on Usage: Assess the reason for the occurrence of a harmful (or dangerous) function, event or condition during the performance of an action. Find ways to alter the speed.

Examples:

In machining operations, such as milling and grinding, numerous discoveries related to increased material removal have been made by moving at much higher revolutions per minute than were historically considered practical.

A technique used by writers that helps them get started is to conduct a “speed writing” effort. The objective is to get past writer’s block by not being concerned with what is being written or the quality of the writing.

When laying off employees, it has been found to be most effective for everyone not to drag the process out for weeks at a time. An organized and quickly performed process is less traumatic overall.

Thermal deburring removes small metal burrs from machined parts by exposing parts to high heat for a short period of time. The short period of time protects the part from thermal damage.

When a negotiating technique known as the “porcupine principle” (someone tries to make the other person responsible for a problem) is applied, the best strategy to counteraction is to pass it back as fast as possible before the problem is acknowledged as yours. For instance, when the negotiating party says, “I don’t have money to pay for your services,” — thus transferring the problem to you (and expecting that you will find ways to deliver a contract for less money), — expert negotiators recommend immediate response, “That’s OK; we can find items to remove from the contract so that it fits your budget.” This quick problem return means the other party must now determine how to live with lower results. The key is an immediate response before both parties silently acknowledged that the opponent’s lack of money is your problem.

Twenty years ago, mail processing equipment was thought to have limits on the speed of processing because the power shafts on the standard designs would vibrate unacceptably at the maximum setting of the equipment. By increasing the speed beyond the maximum the vibrations stopped and the problem was then discovered to be an issue of natural frequency and not a limitation of the equipment speed.