Start with the Customer

As Steve Jobs said, you’ve got to start with the Customer Experience.

But sometimes you’ve got to start with the customer instead.

In “Where good ideas come from”, Steven Johnson discusses incubators:

from 4.16 to 6.36

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_where_good_ideas_come_from

Here’s the real story:

https://www.ted.com/talks/timothy_prestero_design_for_people_not_awards

1.09 to 4.33

What is the real lesson here?

Back to Steven Johnson and the invention of GPS by Guier and Weffenbach-this is a great story 12.02 to 15.57

An interesting link to Oppenheimer- Bill Guier worked on the Manhattan project (with Richard Feynman and used his calculations to help invent gps)- full story here-https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/content/techdigest/pdf/V19-N01/19-01-Guier.pdf

Here, they sum up why they were able to make this breakthrough:

“APL was a superb environment for inquisitive young kids, and particularly so in the Research Center. It was an environment that encouraged people to think broadly and generally about task problems, and one in which inquisitive kids felt free to follow their curiosity. Equally important, it was an environment wherein kids, with an initial success, could turn to colleagues who were broadly expert in relevant fields, and particularly because of the genius of the Laboratory Directorship, colleagues who were also knowledgeable about hardware, weapons, and weapons needs. Finally, we agree that it probably would not have happened this way without Frank McClure and Dick Kershner. They were incredible; they were unique.”

When you see scientists talking about tracking migrating birds and animals, or continental drift, it’s because of their work on Sputnik- unintended consequences, happy accident?

https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/multimedia-asset/experts-discussing-doppler-tracking