tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7108456.post-47992685034906647592008-04-03T10:03:00.000-05:002008-04-03T10:03:00.000-05:002008-04-03T10:03:00.000-05:00Interesting article. <BR/>I would hope that the book makes the case better, but the interview really doesn't tie Toyota into this concept very well. Toyota succeeds at avoiding "inventor-itis" in two ways. First, they focus on adding value from the perspective of the customer. As the article you linked says, that means doing more up-front assessing of the customer's needs and less fauning over your own engineering prowess. <BR/>Second, Toyota has a continuous improvement culture where the inventors are never satified with what they have already done. The engineers are taught never to be satisfied with their past accomplishments.Andy Wagnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571752564693294372noreply@blogger.com