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The Industrial Science Blog: Complexity Science, Simulation, and Business
Sunday, May 08, 2005
 
rapid prototyping, the strawman, creative destruction
Last week, George and I were meeting with an associate. At the end of the meeting, he said, "let's 'rapid prototype', to make sure we're all on the right track". Ah, another $5 business word. But what does it mean?

I actually use the term frequently, and George and I are big proponents of the rapid prototype approach. It works well in our business of building models. The idea is to quickly put something together that may NOT be anywhere near the final and actual end "thing", but a "something" nevertheless that allows us to argue, agree, comment, destroy, communicate, and inspire. Without it, we may be agreeing to "words only" and realize much later that we've been visualizing very different things.

So much of today's business requires the imagining of things that have never exactly been built before. From simple documents to complicated business models, sometimes, there's very little concrete precedence that allows us to say, "yeah, it's exactly like that thing over there".

Sometimes I use the phrase "creative destruction". Not that I'm an artist, but many sculptors will build versions of their masterpieces on paper or in small scale. Sometimes exhibits will show the pre-incarnations of the final work so that you can see the thought process or the "here's what DIDN'T work". The term "creative destruction" also has an added meaning (for me, at least), in that I believe that in some cases, the actual destroying of a prototype can be creative itself.

A more common term I have seen is "strawman". I usually don't like this term as much, since it seems to present the prototype as a "target for criticisms". The enemy may strike at any time, send a strawman to peek over the walls to see what arrows it may take. There are, of course, times when such an analogy is very appropriate. (hmmm... how is this different from "creative destruction"?)

I go back to "rapid prototype". It implies working with gusto, and in good spirit to "suggest" a version of something that will last. I imagine a bunch of scientists huddling around the prototype as it gets poked around. Ideas abound, creativity ensues, and we get closer to the final "end thing".

- posted by hcpark @ 4:24 PM  
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