The Wright Way

7 Problem-Solving Principles from the Wright Brothers That Can Make Your Business Soar

Author: Mark Eppler
Pub Date: 2007
Your Price: $24.95
ISBN: 0814407978
Format: Hardcover

• Overview
• Chronology of Important Events
• Historical Contribution
• Motivating Your Team
• Praise for this book
• Press Release
• Sample Chapter
• 7 Problem-Solving Principles
• Table of Contents
• What the Wright Brothers Accomplished
• Request an Evaluation Copy, INSTRUCTOR ONLY!

Motivating Your Team to Solve Business Problems the Wright Brothers’ Way

The Wright brothers were inveterate tinkerers. Activated by an insatiable curiosity and nurtured throughout their childhoods, tinkering-tactile and conceptual-was a habitual, lifelong practice that would influence their work throughout their careers. Tinkering was a key component of the Wright brothers’ problem-solving model, and one that can be applied today. Here are a few tips to make tinkering and fiddling—the art of making connections, comparisons, and contrasts—effective in any organization:


• Give staff the freedom to look foolish. To encourage people to think radically, without fear of reprisal or ridicule, sponsor a "wildest idea" contest. At worst, participants will be energized by the enthusiasm and laughter it creates. At best, they’ll be excited by the generation of possibilities previously unseen.

• Discourage milk runs. Getting into the habit of doing things the same old way is often a detriment to creativity. Consider rewarding employees bold enough to look for alternative paths.

• Scrounge, forage, and rummage. Tinkerers need raw materials, tangible and intangible, to work with. Challenge employees to look for fresh ideas and opportunities everywhere—even on their daily commute to work.

• Look at problems from as many angles as possible. Resist the need to be logical. Ask the question in a different way. Instead of settling on the first "right" answer, look for two or three more.

• Encourage tactile thinking by creating a tinkering room. Create a place where staff members can go and play with tinkering tools, like LEGO kits or Erector Sets. Encourage employees to get comfortable with creating physical connections and then apply the same creative tactics to the problems they’re seeking to solve.

• Fiddle first, ask questions later. Just as in brainstorming sessions, the objective is to bring forth as many ideas as possible, without allowing built-in judgment to disqualify any. Fiddling means following hunches wherever they might lead without worrying about established rules and norms.

• Encourage people to really think. Original thinking is rare. Encourage employees to ask themselves on a regular basis, "What is my unique perspective on this subject?"

Adapted from THE WRIGHT WAY: 7 Problem-Solving Principles from the Wright Brothers That Can Make Your Business Soar by Mark Eppler (AMACOM).

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