The Slow Elevator Problem, Dirty Floors In a Men's Airport Restroom, and a Dutch Bicycle Maker's Shipping Problem: How Changing Your Mindset Might Help You Solve Problems
The 3 Word Quote: “Prevention Trumps Treatment”
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1.
The elevator was far too slow.
So slow, in fact, that the office building owners were receiving numerous complaints - and even threats from tenants promising to cancel leases if the problem wasn't fixed.
The owners were worried.
They met several times to brainstorm solutions for the elevator problem.
They could replace the elevator, but it was time-consuming and far too costly.
They thought about replacing the drive that ran the elevator. They thought about reprogramming and using a different algorithm.
They thought about many solutions until they ran out of ideas.
The owners then presented the few possible solutions to the building managers for input.
None of the ideas seemed like the perfect solution. The managers were worried that the tenants would complain about the time involved for the repair. The owners' primary concern was the cost involved.
But one manager proposed a different solution to the elevator problem - one that had yet to be mentioned.
The owners heard the idea, agreed, and immediately implemented it.
It was simple, quick, and cheap - and highly effective.
Elevator complaints nearly disappeared overnight.
2.
The cleaning services manager at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam had a sticky situation on his hands.
Actually, the sticky situation wasn't on his hands; it was on the floor.
His job was to ensure the airport was clean and comfortable for travelers.
However, one area in the airport continued to cause issues and was the most challenging area to keep clean.
It was the men's restroom.
And the area that was especially dirty was the men's restroom floors - under the urinals.
The workers had no issues keeping the actual urinals clean, but the floors underneath the urinals were constantly dirty, unsanitary, and, well, sticky.
The manager had an issue with 'spillage' - in short, quite a bit of urine ended up on the floors.
And no matter how often the crews mopped the area, the problem seemed to stick around.
Those in charge met and discussed possible solutions. They talked about hiring more attendants and positioning them in the restroom. They discussed using different cleaning supplies.
They even pitched the idea of fining people who seemed to make a mess on the floor.
But the problem was quietly solved by a simple idea.
The idea was so successful that 80% of the 'spillage' was eliminated, and this novel solution saved 8% of total cleaning costs.
The idea was so popular it spread to other airport restrooms over the years.
3.
The bikes arrived at customers' homes looking like "they'd been through a metal-munching combine harvester."
Bex Rad was the creative director at VanMoof Bicycles. His words above summed up what happened to many of VanMoof's bikes when they shipped their high-end product to customers.
Damaged bikes agitated customers, and it became a significant issue for the company.
The Dutch company aimed to sell 90% of their bikes online, so shipping and delivery were paramount.
Rad hoped he could change the shipping company for a simple solution. He was searching for a carrier as obsessed with delivery and logistics as his company was obsessed with bikes.
They tried small companies, large companies, and start-ups. The bikes were sturdy and well-built, but the delivery problems persisted no matter what shipping company was used.
But then someone in the company had another idea.
It was strange, but they tried it.
And their problem disappeared.
The Takeaway:
So what do a slow elevator, a dirty floor in a men's bathroom, and a shipping problem at a Dutch Bicycle company have in common?
All are examples of solving a problem by analyzing it differently - they are what author Dan Heath calls 'upstream thinking.'
The slow elevator was solved by a manager understanding that the real problem was not just a slow elevator; it was people's displeasure with waiting for the slow elevator.
The elevator was slow, but the real issue was people were impatient.
People just hated to wait, even if just for a minute or two.
So, the solution was simple- the manager hung a mirror next to the elevator.
A Harvard Business Review article points out that the mirrors didn't solve the slow elevator. The elevator is still slow, but tenants stopped threatening to cancel the leases.
But mirrors ended the complaints because they gave people waiting for the elevator something to do - which was spending the waiting time looking at themselves.
Give them something to do or focus on for even a minute, and the wait ceases to be a concern.
Virtually overnight, complaints about slow elevators disappeared - thanks to the mirrors.
The sticky floors at the airport in Amsterdam were gross - and they were a real problem.
Aad Kieboom, the airport manager, devised a solution that worked.
He took realistic-looking photos of a common fly and had them etched into each urinal, placed right above the drain.
A fake fly in the urinal.
The fake fly gave men something to 'aim' at as they used the bathroom.
And the flies worked amazingly well.
They improved men's aim, and 'spillage' was reduced by 80%.
The urinal fly idea had wings - now, several other airports use similar solutions to achieve cleaner bathrooms.
Like the building managers with a slow elevator and the airport staff with the dirty bathroom, the Dutch bike manufacturer brainstormed numerous ideas.
Ultimately, they knew the real issue was how the shippers handled the boxes that contained their bikes.
They believed the boxes were handled too roughly, causing their bikes to be destroyed.
Their first instinct was to print the word 'fragile' on the boxes, but that did little to help.
But printing something else on the boxes did help.
The team decided to print a picture of a flat-screen television and put it on the outside of all their boxes.
Damaged bikes caused by shipping issues dropped by almost 70%.
The bike shippers now believed they were moving huge flat-screen TVs - the picture caused them to handle the boxes with kid gloves.
No one wanted to be responsible for a broken TV, so they treated the boxes with extra care.
The elevator, the bathroom floor, and the bike shipping solutions were all simple and inexpensive.
Heath's book Upstream is actually about solving problems before they occur.
These three solutions were unique but reactionary; they can, however, remind people to reframe problems and think differently.
Thinking in a problem-preventing versus problem-solving mindset is always a good place to start.
After all, prevention is often more beneficial than treatment.
*Have a friend (or 3) who would enjoy the3mix? Share away.
3 things before you go:
listen: an online radio station designed specifically for those undergoing chemotherapy/ being treated for cancer; created by my son - Chemo Radio: upbeat songs when you’re feeling down
watch: love the ukulele; James Hill is perhaps the best in the world; watch his version of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean where he (and his imaginary band) creates all the songs with one ukulele
watch: fascinating 30 second clip of how cartoon sounds are created; will bring you back to your cartoon-watching days
See you in 10 days!
-Jeff