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    The Paper Aeroplane Exercise1

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    abbas aliakbari
    The document describes an exercise where participants are split into groups and tasked with designing and producing paper airplanes within time limits. They are first asked to quickly design and test fly a plane, then produce as many of one design as possible in another round. Later, the groups are challenged to produce planes for different markets, like civilian, military, or transport models, for additional points. Resources are made available to the groups to help solve problems and advance their designs. After a final round, scores are tallied and a winner declared. Key lessons highlighted include learning curves, different types of innovation, the relationship between product and process innovation, and the importance of understanding customer needs and having a clear strategy.

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    The Paper Aeroplane Exercise1

    Uploaded by

    abbas aliakbari
    8 views2 pages
    The document describes an exercise where participants are split into groups and tasked with designing and producing paper airplanes within time limits. They are first asked to quickly design and test fly a plane, then produce as many of one design as possible in another round. Later, the groups are challenged to produce planes for different markets, like civilian, military, or transport models, for additional points. Resources are made available to the groups to help solve problems and advance their designs. After a final round, scores are tallied and a winner declared. Key lessons highlighted include learning curves, different types of innovation, the relationship between product and process innovation, and the importance of understanding customer needs and having a clear strategy.

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    The document describes an exercise where participants are split into groups and tasked with designing and producing paper airplanes within time limits. They are first asked to quickly design and test fly a plane, then produce as many of one design as possible in another round. Later, the groups are challenged to produce planes for different markets, like civilian, military, or transport models, for additional points. Resources are made available to the groups to help solve problems and advance their designs. After a final round, scores are tallied and a winner declared. Key lessons highlighted include learning curves, different types of innovation, the relationship between product and process innovation, and the importance of understanding customer needs and having a clear strategy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    8 views2 pages

    The Paper Aeroplane Exercise1

    Uploaded by

    abbas aliakbari
    The document describes an exercise where participants are split into groups and tasked with designing and producing paper airplanes within time limits. They are first asked to quickly design and test fly a plane, then produce as many of one design as possible in another round. Later, the groups are challenged to produce planes for different markets, like civilian, military, or transport models, for additional points. Resources are made available to the groups to help solve problems and advance their designs. After a final round, scores are tallied and a winner declared. Key lessons highlighted include learning curves, different types of innovation, the relationship between product and process innovation, and the importance of understanding customer needs and having a clear strategy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    of 2

    The

     paper  aeroplane  exercise    


     
     
    (1)  Split  the  participants  into  roughly  equal  sized  groups  
     
    (2)  Give  them  some  newspaper  and  ask  them  to  produce  and  test  fly  a  paper  
    aeroplane  within  2  minutes  
     
    (3)  Get  them  to  choose  their  best  design,  and  then  make  as  many  as  possible  in  2  
    minutes.    Record  the  scores  
     
    (4)  Give  them  some  time  for  discussion  and  then  repeat  step  (3).    There  should  be  a  
    marked  increase  in  productivity.    Get  them  to  discuss  why  and  what  they  did.  
     
    (5)  Introduce  the  challenge  of  variety.    For  example,  each  group  now  has  not  only  to  
    try  and  maximise  output  but  also  to  produce  different  planes  for  different  markets.        
     
    Try  asking  for  a  civilian  plane,  painted  in  3  colours  and  with  windows,  and  offer  to  
    award  2  points  for  each  completed  plane.      
     
    And/Or  ask  for  a  military  version,  painted  all  black  (=stealth  technology),  very  small  
    and  aerobatic.    Award  10  points  per  plane  but  only  if  it  meets  stringent  quality  and  
    performance  criteria.      
     
    And/Or  ask  for  a  transport  plane  capable  of  flying  with  a  heavy  load  (a  book  for  
    example)  from  one  side  of  the  room  to  the  other.    Award  20  points  for  meeting  this  
    challenge.      
     
    In  each  case  you  can  make  available  a  set  of  ‘technological  resources’  (pens,  paper  
    clips,  tape,  scissors,  etc.)  which  can  help  each  group  to  solve  their  problems.    They  
    can  be  ‘sold’  for  points  –  which  means  the  groups  have  to  make  some  strategic  
    choices  about  investing  in  technology  to  help  them  realise  their  product  innovations.    
    You  can  also  make  these  resources  scarce  so  that  one  group  may  possess  a  key  
    technology  to  which  the  others  do  not  have  access.  
     
    (6)  After  a  fixed  period  -­‐  5  minutes  -­‐  get  them  to  report  back  and  test  fly.    Award  final  
    scores  and  decide  on  the  winner.  
     
    (7)  Points  which  this  illustrates:  
     
    • Learning  curves  
    • Different  types  of  innovation  -­‐  radical  and  incremental,  product  and  process  
    • Interdependence  of  product  and  process  innovation  
    • Learning  within  and  between  groups  
    • Innovation  involves  pull  signals  -­‐  demand  side  -­‐  and  push  signals  -­‐  technological  
    opportunities  
    • The  need  to  get  close  to  markets  –  for  example  in  the  ‘civilian’  plane  in  section  5  it  
    is  rare  that  groups  actually  ask  the  customer  what  colours  they  would  like.  
    • Need  for  strategy  -­‐  section  (5)  requires  some  decisions  to  be  made  about  which  
    business  we  are  in  
    • Technology  strategy  –  riks  and  reward  and  investments  in  enabling  technology  
    • etc.  
     
    The  role  of  the  exercise  is  to  ‘break  the  ice’  but  also  to  provide  a  reference  point  for  
    subsequent  discussion  and  exchange  of  experiences.  
     
     
       
     
     
     
     
     

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