Keep A Junk Pile

If more, less accurate experiments often lead to better innovation outcomes than fewer, more accurate tests, how might innovators run more tests? How does one increase the velocity of experimentation?

It’s worthwhile to again consider Thomas Edison, who advised that “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” (I’ve written about the value of messy work spaces before.) What did that look like in his lab?

“His West Orange laboratory had a ‘well-stocked storeroom and a collection of apparatus and equipment left over from previous experiments’ that included ‘machine tools, chemicals, electrical equipment, loads of supplies – not only lengths of steel and pipe, but rare and exotic materials such as seahorse teeth and cow hair.’ This ‘big scrap heap’ provided the raw materials that Edison and his staff used to invent new things.” (from Weird Ideas That Work, by my friend and colleague Bob Sutton)

Which is to say, where’s your “pile of junk”? I’d love to hear examples of various organizations’ scrap heaps (the need not be physical piles! The might even be outstanding problems in need of solutions…) or how individuals keep “materials” at the ready to facilitate rapid experimentation.

Related: Make Experiments Cheaper
Related: Accelerate Experiments
Related: Reviewing Old Notes

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