Purposive Drift

Know by doing

Digging around on the often intriguing Metacool site, I came across this piece on routine innovation as exemplified by Honda. Well worth a read. Here's a taster:

"Know by doing:  as the leader of the Ridgeline project, Gary Flint wasn't isolated from reality by layers of managers.  He lived the details of the project to the point where, as he says in the article, he would even dust the office.  If you're in there dusting, you're probably also walking around, hearing and seeing the realities of the project.  And if you know those, you'll know the critical things to focus on.  Honda has a long culture of knowing by doing, and of putting people in leadership positions who know -- really know -- the nuts and bolts of the business."