Only boxers need titles |

One of the special ways our design firm worked was that we really didn’t have titles or responsibilities. Oh, sure, Sam and I were responsible for vetting the clients (just as the clients were responsible for vetting us), for insuring the finances were in order- because we were the executives.

But, when it came time to the design efforts, we were pretty egalitarian. Yes, some of the clients were adamant about hearing the progress (or the lack thereof) from Sam and I, but most of our clients were more than willing to get routine (maybe too frequent) reports from anyone on the team.

And, by putting the teams together (often by deciding who had enough “free time” to devote to this new effort), we were able to mix together folks who were biologists, chem e’s, physicians, industrial designers, chemists, MBA’s, and mechanical engineers in the pot. And, everyone got the chance to do what they did best- which may not be what their “degree” signified. And, different folks took the lead at different times to insure that we were in compliance with the time frame the client expected.

And, more importantly, we needed to ensure that there would be customer acceptance. That was not necessarily the client- because a new medical product had to be acceptable to physicians and hospital administrators, a new beverage needed to engage the pop drinkers, etc. So, with everyone involved in developing the musts, the wants, and the “if my mother had wheels, she’d be a trolley car” decisions, we had better chances of picking the optimal criteria for our soon-to-be concepts.

Some of our ideas were pretty wild. And, sometimes they worked themselves out and sometimes they didn’t. Admittedly, those trials were early on in the project timeline- because we needed to get results (the new product, the new drug, the new process). And, by being willing to try out a variety of approaches, we were able to come up with pretty novel designs. Which was the ultimate goal of the client.

Knowing that not everything will work was another critical underpinning of our design teams. Because we knew that without risk, nothing great could ever be achieved. If one always hedges their bets, they can only come up with second best.

And, second best is just unacceptable.