Shipulski On Design

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Best practice – a tired recipe you recycle because you think the world is static. Emergent practice – a new way to work created from whole cloth because the context is new. Worst practice – a best practice applied to a world that has changed around you. Novel practice– work that recognizes the world is […]

We have an immense distaste for uncertainty. And, as a result, we create for ourselves a radical and unskillful overestimation of our ability to control things. Our distaste of uncertainty is really a manifestation of our fear of death. When we experience and acknowledge uncertainty, it’s an oblique reminder that we will die. And that’s […]

If the project could obsolete your best work, do it.  Otherwise, do something else. But first, makes sure there’s solid execution on the turn-the-crank projects that pay the bills. If you always say yes to projects, you never have the bandwidth to do the magical work no one is asking for. When was the last […]

When there’s a big problem, the first step is to define what’s causing it. To do that, based on an understanding of the physics, a sequence of events is proposed and then tested to see if it replicates the problem. In that way, the team must understand the system as it is before the problem […]

Things are no longer predictable, and it’s time to start behaving that way. In the olden days (the early 2000s) the pace of change was slow enough that for most the next big thing was the same old thing, just twisted and massaged to look like the next big thing.  But that’s not the case […]

The most difficult part of innovation is starting, and the best way to start is the Innovation Burst Event, or IBE. The IBE is a short, focused event with three objectives: to learn innovation methods, to provide hands-on experience, and to generate actual results. In short, the IBE is a great way to get started. […]

This week marks two years of blog posts, delivered every Wednesday night (or Thursday morning for those that sleep in), whether you want it or not.  I’m proud to say I have not missed one in two years. Here are the top 5 posts over the last 12 months (for direct visits to my website): […]

It’s not possible until you demonstrate it. It can’t be done until you show it being done. It won’t work until you make it work. It must be done using the standard process until you do it a much better way. It’s required until you violate the requirement and everything is fine. It’s needed until […]

You can solve problems that reduce the material costs of your products. You can solve problems that reduce the number of people that work at your company. You can solve problems that save your company money. You can solve problems that help your customers make progress. You can solve problems that make it easier for […]

If you know the right answer, you’re working on an old problem or you’re misapplying your experience. If you are 100% sure how things will turn out, let someone else do it. If there’s no uncertainty, there can be no learning. If there’s no learning, your upstart competitors are gaining on you. If you don’t […]

If you want to get innovation right, focus on novelty. Novelty is the difference between how things are today and how they might be tomorrow.  And that comparison calibrates tomorrow’s idea within the context of how things are today.  And that makes all the difference. When you can define how something is novel, you have […]