An Elegant Solution by Subtraction (From “Parks & Recreation”)
Our good friend Matt May (see posts and podcasts about him here) has a new book coming out in October, The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules For Winning In The Age Of Excess Everything, a follow-up to previous books, including In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing.
Knowing how to subtract or remove the right thing from a system often leads to an “elegant solution” (another book of Matt's) as opposed to an expensive, complicated solution through addition.
There was a silly subplot on the “Campaign Shake-Up” episode of NBC show Parks & Recreation where the townspeople of Pawnee have this little quirk where they put their mouths on public drinking fountains – a clear public health risk, one that had to be solved by a team.
Here's a clip about the problem and the start of their work, which starts with talk of a poster campaign. Signs are ineffective mistake-proofing, by the way.
Ann Perkins wants to build a better water fountain (good for her!).
Later scenes show a team trying to solve the problem, with one idea being a cage over the spout (which was easily removed by Andy):
The health department was making up education posters, but I love how the team tried to error-proof the fountain, as it's way too easy for people to ignore education signs (as with handwashing in hospitals).
The final countermeasure was to REMOVE the splash guard, so water just shot up into the person's mouth:
“If it's not there, you can't put your mouth on it,” deadpans April.
The idea was then called “simple, elegant, and cost-effective” by the Rob Lowe character.
That's Kaizen — or, just don't put your mouth on the fountain.
Quite a “Matt May moment,” eh?
