Quotes About Adaptation

But in the world of sales, if a company were to make the perfect product, any other company would have to change it—which would make it worse—in order to promote its own innovation, to show that it was different.

We need to remove the word failure from our vocabulary, replacing it instead with learning experience. To fail is to learn: we learn more from our failures than from our successes.

People invariably object and complain whenever a new approach is introduced into an existing array of products and systems. Conventions are violated: new learning is required. The merits of the new system are irrelevant: it is the change that is upsetting.

Why does inelegant design persist for so long? This is called the legacy problem, and it will come up several times in this book. Too many devices use the existing standard—that is the legacy. If the symmetrical cylindrical battery were changed, there would also have to be a major change in a huge number of products. The new batteries would not work in older equipment, nor the old batteries in new equipment. Microsoft

The frequent traveler is continually confronted with this kind of situation: the behavior that is appropriate in one place is inappropriate in another, even in situations that appear to be identical. Known cultural norms can create comfort and harmony. Unknown norms can lead to discomfort and confusion.

The next time you can't immediately figure out the shower control in a hotel room or have trouble using an unfamiliar television set or kitchen appliance, remember that the problem is in the design. Ask yourself where the problem lies.

When people err, change the system so that type of error will be reduced or eliminated. When complete elimination is not possible, redesign to reduce the impact.

Standardization is indeed the fundamental principle of desperation: when no other solution appears possible, simply design everything the same way, so people only have to learn once.

Even if the first versions of a product are well done, human-centered, and focused upon real needs, it is the rare organization that is content to let a good product stay untouched.

Science now knows that evolutionarily more advanced animals are more emotional than primitive ones, the human being the most emotional of all. Moreover, emotions play a critical role in daily lives, helping assess situations as good or bad, safe or dangerous.

key to winning the race is not to compete against machines but to compete with machines.

The unaided mind is surprisingly limited. It is things that make us smart. Take advantage of them.

Cultural constraints are likely to change with time.

Our becoming is done.

The more detailed we made our plans, the longer our cycle times became

To manage product development effectively, we must recognize that valuable new information is constantly arriving throughout the development cycle. Rather than remaining frozen in time, locked to our original plan, we must learn to make good economic choices using this emerging information.

Feedback is several orders of magnitude more important in product development than it is in manufacturing.

We live in an uncertain world. We must recognize that our original plan was based on noisy data, viewed from a long time-horizon.

I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present.

Problems are often opportunities coming at us in packaging that isn't what we expect or want.

The world moves along at such a fast clip that we have little patience when things are slow, whether it's the line at a supermarket or Internet access. We've become intolerant of those things that cannot be accelerated or skipped entirely. I can't speed up the foundation work for a building, nor can I expect to play piano like Glenn Gould just because I want to.

I quickly learned that the world is a changing place. You cannot stand still. If you do, life will pass you by.

That's a good thing to keep in mind—use your mind to visualize how things might be, as you go along. That can make the plethora of details and setbacks just a part of the plan.

Take blips in stride—instead of trying to deflect problems or obstacles and send them off in another direction, try to embrace them. Turn them into something positive. You can often disarm people this way and get them on your side. Don't get too attached to your ideas. Adjust, adapt, and take things in stride.