Title: Lessons of the Square Watermelon
Context: What is possible is not always the same thing as what we think is possible.
Synopsis: Here is the true tale of the square watermelon. This inorganically shaped gourd is the curiously elegant solution to the supposedly intractable problem of spatial efficiency in Japanese supermarkets. Rather than accepting things the way they were (i.e. watermelons are round) some very ingenious people applied a little baseline logic and changed the rules (e.g. watermelons are now also square). One thing this article misses I think is that the problem(?) of round watermelons was solved by farmers and not scientists or designers or inventors. The farmers are the guys who know how to grow watermelons and rather than having to bring in outside specialists, the people with the greatest knowledge about the watermelon itself were able to solve it by themselves. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day routine of our processes and toolsets that we forget to rotate the problem and look at it from a different angle (hence the need for outside vendors and consultants). So remember, the next time you are faced with a round watermelon in your job, think about how you might make it square and see if you don’t start looking at things a little differently.
Best Bit: “If you begin with the notion that something is impossible, then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error.”
via hardknoxlife.com
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