2013 - Plenum - Martin Steinert - How to tame a Skunk Works

!

Radical Innovation - How to tame a
Skunk Works?
martin @ trondheim,
Radisson Blu Royal Garden Hotel

PROSJEKT 2013, 17 October 2013

martin.steinert@ntnu.no, prof
Engineering Design and Innovation
Department for Engineering Design and Materials

!

LETTING
engineering teams be creative
making innovation happen


!

dancing
with
evolu0on

!

TrollLABS
NTNU´s Living Lab Skunks works and Maker
Space for Radical Engineering Concept Creation
at IVT

martin @ NTNU

Trondheim, 8 October 2013

!

NOT The Problem
Works well,
1) if the problem is defined
(fixed requirements)
2) if the pathway is defined
(fixed solution and technology choice)
3)  if market prices exist
à See Aaron´s presentation earlier today
J


!

SpaceX

AND …

Skunk Works
Lockheed Martin's
Advanced Development
Programs (ADP)

Google X Labs


PARC (Palo Alto
Research Center
Incorporated) formerly
Xerox PARC

!

Luckily
we have comparable academic spaces
Stanford d.school and Center for Design Research

MIT Medialab


and it never stops evolving

!

a brief history

Creative Design with John Arnold and GSB
Product Design Program with Fine Arts Department
Robotic Systems Design with Computer Science and Aero
Team-Based Systems Design (310) with Corporate Partners
Smart Product Design (218) with EE and CS
Center for Design Research (CDR) with Industry Partners
Manufacturing Systems Design with GSB and MS&E
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Design (MEMS) with EE
Human Computer Interaction Design with CS
Learning Design & Technology with Education
Learning Lab with Wallenbergs of Sweden
BioDesign with Biology &

Medicine

d.school with HPI and IDEO
venture design with India & Nigeria
310.global!
1960

1970


1980

1990

2000

2010

!

So what are we doing?

ENGINEERING DESIGN
“Solving” complex socio technical problems
that create value


!

keeping the user in perspective


!

vision!

solution: UX!

future!

!


!

Now let me try to create some empathy?


!

extreme example
me310 experiment
need-find, conceive, build-test
re-invent the convertible
for BMW with TUM in 2005


!

project challenge
improve the open air experience


!

modeling what we know @ TUM


!

critical function
prototyping


!

finding the source of noise @ Stanford


!

airflow revisited


!

airflow revisited again


!

& again


!

… one more try


!

full scale prototyping


!

dark horse prototyping


!

airflow
re-invented


!

now we are getting very real


!

Prototype and iterate … LEARN FAST


iterate

!

FASTER !!!

…iterate…

!

OK … here we go …


!

getting real on the open road
from concept to reality


!

fluid dynamics re-visited
base case

re-circulation
creates bad-air
in the cabin

OpenRoad

re-circulating bad-air
is eliminated by the
good-air jet stream

!

validating airspeed measurement
but watch her hair
base case airspeed

OpenRoad airspeed

2.3 m/s

7 m/s

1.6 m/s

6.3 m/s

1.9 m/s

Bad Wind Good Wind

1.4 m/s

Bad Wind Good Wind

!

Conclusion

a better convertible, problem eliminated

!

So how are we doing it?
Key are rapid and rough prototyping and
continuous learning based on test feedback.
Failure is not only an option, it is a must!
(in the early phases ;)
We break our prototypes and test user
experiences in order to find the limits of the
problem and solution spaces

!

d.mindsets
show don´t tell


!

d.mindsets
craft clarity


!

d.mindsets
be mindful of your process


!

d.mindsets
radical collaboration


!

d.mindsets
bias towards action


!

d.mindsets
embrace experimentation


!

d.mindsets
focus onto human values


!

it is always about people

!

building “T” people
and
“T” people teams


!

in the moment,
should i be an
“I”
shaped
or
“T”
shaped
person?
(Suzuki’2011)


!

In-depth knowledge


“I”
shaped by
knowledge
in depth

!

In-depth knowledge

Design Thinking Behavior


“T”
shaped by
breadth
in behavior

!

We need various knowledge bases
… people
In-depth knowledge

In-depth knowledge

In-depth knowledge

(Tang J. 1989)

(Lande M. 2010)

ideation is based on physical communication
… co-location


!

tangible communication

!

accelerated learning

!

defying gravity

!

What about process?


!

Well beyond Waterfall model:

Agile,
Dynamic,
Reflective

!

Stanford-‐IDEO

like
design
process

(re)Deﬁne
the

Problem

Design
never
ends

Needﬁnding
and

Benchmarking

Test

Learn

Understand
the
users,
design
space

Prototype

Build


Bodystorming

Ideate

!

Stanford-‐IDEO

like
design
process

…
IN
REALITY

(re)Deﬁne
the

Problem

Design
never
ends

Needﬁnding
and

Benchmarking

Test

Learn

Understand
the
users,
design
space

Prototype

Build


Bodystorming

Ideate

!

crea?ng
ambiguity


!

Right … what about our problem
Scope/Outcome
Since we don´t know in
the beginning what we
will create (we are
aiming after all for a
radical or
transformative
innovation) we cannot
predefine the Scope.

Costs

Similarly, we don´t know
what we will do so we
don´t know what we will
spend, budgets are like
battle plans, screwed.
AND a running real time
accounting is key.
PS we need less money
than you think in the
early phases

Time
Is key. This variable we can control. Our deadlines and
prototype demonstrations are the framework that hold our
projects together. Based on each Prototype learning, we
reassess and re aim. Uncertainty decreases over time.

!

Engineering Design Processes
fixed target design,

specifications and

requirements based

incremental engineering design process – adaptive in style

alternative design X,

evolving specifications

and requirements

Steinert
2011

alternative design I,

evolving specifications

and requirements

radical engineering design process – innovative in style


58

!

design

build

test

divergence phase

convergence
phase

Steinert
2011

concept
generation

concept
screening


concept scoring

concept testing

!

Very rough guidelines
Separate philosophy, perspective tools and approaches between
the three phases:
1) Problem focus
2) Solution focus
3) Implementation focus
For very radical projects, give each phase roughly a third of the
time.
If possible divide into subprojects shorter than 1 year, 6 month
are good.

!

Over time (rough guide three equal long phases)
•  Uncertainty decreases, thus Costs and Outcome certainty
increases
•  Gradual shifting from
i) design thinking over
ii) SCRUM like agile methods to
iii) engineering project management
What is needed:
An Agile Lean Project Management, embedded in the
midst of the Trolls ;)


!

LETTING
engineering teams be creative
making innovation happen

and keep a close eye on them from within
not prescript, budget and control but
accompany and obtain real time awareness

!

So let’s go hunting for the next
BIG IDEA
(Leifer, Steinert)

Iteration and
learning is key
!!!


!

one more analogy, jazz (loft session)


!

Takk på meg!!!
TrollLABS@NTNU
renaissance inspired Research Lab based on socraterian
principles for students, researches and practitioners
Any help welcome, tools, man-hours, advice, money,
contacts, coffee machines
CURRENTLY, Looking for companies that would like to
embed company R&D teams for coached design sprints


2013 - Plenum - Martin Steinert - How to tame a Skunk Works

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 2013 - Plenum - Martin Steinert - How to tame a Skunk Works

Similar to 2013 - Plenum - Martin Steinert - How to tame a Skunk Works (20)

More from Prosjekt 2013

More from Prosjekt 2013 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

2013 - Plenum - Martin Steinert - How to tame a Skunk Works