$7$:$07$

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Frank also met with the tecnnical experts berore the session. Since the session was to tocus on applications, he did not want to limit ideas based on perceptions of cost$,$ ease of design, or other such limitations$.$ However, he wanted the technical experts to make sure that the participants did not propose things that broke the laws of nature, or were scientifically impossible. As he described it$,"$If an application requires that a new power plant be built to drive each product, that's okay for this exercise. However, if it has to be a cold fusion power plant, that's not okay."

Setting the Stage

The session started precisely at $8$:$00$ a$.$m$.$ People had been told to be on time, with breakfast served at $7$:$30.$ No one was supposed to arrive after $7$:$45,$ even if they weren't planning to eat. The session would be conducted according to a tight schedule $-$ the nine$-$hour day had been planned to five$-$minute resolution.

Participants entered the IC through a long hall, passing a wall lined with tables filled with food. After passing by the tables of food and turning a corner, they entered a large room with a wide semicircle of $20$ red "gaming chairs"$-$low, padded chairs, looking something like oversize airplane seats, modified with gliders on the bottom so that they could be moved easily. A small, circular table was in the center, with snacks, various materials $($sticky pads, pens, etc.$),$ and a projector. The room had several speakers on the walls, connected to Frank's MP$3$ player, playing music by the Beatles and the Grateful Dead.

On the walls were many innovation$-$oriented quotations, such as:

Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self$-$conscious, and anything selfconscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply do things. $($Albert Einstein$)$

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up$.($Thomas Edison$)$

You miss $100\%$ of the shots you never take. $($Wayne Gretzky$)$

It's easy to stop making mistakes. Just stop having ideas. $($Tom McMakin$)$

The best way to predict the future is to invent it$.($Alan Kay, Apple$)$

The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them. $($H$.$L$.$ Mencken$)$

Equal participants doing similar things will generate lots of new ideas. $($John Steinbeck$)$

Do one scary thing every day. $($Eleanor Roosevelt$)$

Everyone was seated by $8$:$00$ a$.$m$.-$participants in the gaming chairs, a few observers in standard chairs outside the semicircle. One participant was late, and was not allowed to participate. One of the observers replaced the tardy participant. The schedule for the day was

This document is authorized for use only in Warren Boeker's GEMBA WTR $24$ Boeker at University of Washington from Nov $2023$ to May $2024.$

Seeing in the Dark: Innovation at FLIR Commercial Vision Systems HR$-32$

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tight, and Frank did not believe it was appropriate to delay the entire group because one participant had not followed the instructions to be on time.

Frank began with a brief introduction, giving an overview of trends in the IR imaging business, and stating that the objective of the day was to find a new application for the technology. He also stated the rules of the IC$-$cell phones, Blackberries, and other communications devices were to be turned off. There were no phones in the facility. Once in the IC$,$ participants were to be cut off from their normal work responsibilities.

Everyone introduced themselves, giving their name, job, and one obscure fact about themselves. Participants were from a wide range of departments, and from all levels of the organization, from hourly employee to vice president. Frank then outlined the day. The morning would be spent originating "seed" ideas. In the afternoon, these would be developed into application ideas, and then into products. A scientist then gave a brief introduction to IR imaging technology, describing its capabilities and limitations$.$