Question

What are some examples of sticky ideas in the context of product development and testing?

Sticky ideas in the context of product development and testing are those that are understood, remembered, and have a lasting impact. They often involve innovative and creative solutions to problems. For instance, the employees at Ingersoll-Rand, frustrated with the long time span required to get a new product approved, launched a new group with the goal to create a new product in under a year. To test the durability of a new product material, they tied samples of each of the materials to the bumper of a car and drove around an empty parking lot, dragging the materials behind them. This creative and scrappy solution is an example of a sticky idea.

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A short example comes from employees at the corporation Ingersoll-Rand. One day, frustrated with the long time span required to get a new product approved, the company launched a new group whose goal was to create a new product in under a year, a quarter of the time it typically took. For this new product, they needed to know whether a new product material was as durable as the existing material. Instead of waiting months and months for the lab testing, they solved the problem in a creative and scrappy way. They tied samples of each of the materials to the bumper of a car and drove around an empty parking lot, dragging the materials behind them until authorities asked them to leave. The materials held up similarly, and the decision had been made.

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