Management Section - A Lesson in Innovation

Vanilla Ice Cream that led to innovation at General Motors!

Never underestimate your clients' complaint, no matter how funny it might seem! This is a real story that happened between a customer of General Motors and its ‘customer care executive’.

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors-
“This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies. So, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store, my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds. What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and it is easy to start whenever I get any other kind?”
The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry and the car started. The third night he ordered vanilla and the car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor.. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavour. Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapour lock".

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking. Don't just say it is " IMPOSSIBLE" without putting a sincere effort....Observe the word "IMPOSSIBLE" carefully. Looking closer you will see, "I'M POSSIBLE"...
What really matters is your attitude and your perception.

Quote of the Month
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.
We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
-- Barrack Obama (February 5, 2008)

So, dear countrymen and fellow citizens, let us together think of the highest level change that we can think of, for creating an India that will be stronger, more prosperous and find its true status among the comity of nations. That is what IRRO seeks to achieve.

Become a member of IRRO and contribute financially

Please visit our web site www.irro.org for having a look at the micro details of how to build a strong nation with strong institutions and systems. An interesting Power Point Presentation gives a broad overview of how we want to achieve our objectives. Become a member of our NGO. We specially welcome educated and literate people who have taken a back seat in the last over two decades. They should now 'take the command of the ship on a voyage of reforms'.

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