ABSTRACT
Nature has several examples of human’s influence upsetting equilibrium and “markets” are dominated by the newcomer. Google does something similar; engineers are expected to devote 20% of their time to projects of their own initiative. On top of the guidelines, however, is the work environment at Google, with foosball and pool tables, slides going down between floors, couches and recreational areas for kicking back and what may be perceived as goofing off in a lot of companies. Ford Motor Company’s lighting group, however, had a problem. New headlamp designs were creating challenges for engineers in how to assemble the components, especially in a high-volume program like that for the Taurus. The manufacturing process went through a series of refining iterations, each one addressing the manufacturing weaknesses realized in the ongoing product testing while building on the strengths of earlier concepts. This seemed like trial and error, but each failure led to new knowledge, improvements, and zeroing in on the target.
