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Quote from a recent Scott Manley episode seems appropriate: We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because we asked ourselves "how har

Quote from a recent Scott Manley episode seems appropriate: We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because we asked ourselves "how hard could it be?"[0] I'm pondering how long would it take GM to modify their ERP systems to handle an entirely new business line. Never mind that... how long would it take them to define the requirements for the plan to determine the framework for the project to explore the changes needed to the organization? Turning on a dime is not something a large corporation is good at, no matter how well-meaning. It takes time for people to learn how to do unfamiliar things, it takes time to organize large groups of people, it takes time to even decide what the requirements are. Many HN readers work in software development. We constantly deal with stakeholders who have completely unrealistic timeframe expectations. Do we really think GM could, in effect, create an entirely new division in a couple of sprints? How long do you think simply creating new injection molds would take? Does GM even know how to handle the kinds of plastics used in ventilators? Edit: Think war-room. The worst thing a manager can do during an emergency is try to create new processes or add people to make things go faster. My job is to let the folks who already know what to do do it. Sweep all obstacles out of the way. Order pizza, arrange for day-care, rent the hotel across the street. The only really quick ways to increase availability of medical equipment is to give existing manufacturers whatever help they need to run 24x7, and to help their suppliers run 24x7. At this point, anyone who is "offering to help" is going to be of little use. If you have the infrastructure in place, you had better be doing everything you can to be ramped up. If you need resources you should be screaming for them--no one else is going to be able to tell you what you need or what to do. If you don't have the infrastructure, knowledge, or contacts, then you're just going to get in the way. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=graC_Vib1IE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=graC_Vib1IE @8:40

jerf 7y ago
"Do we really think GM could, in effect, create an entirely new division in a couple of sprints?" Actually, such things are done with some frequency, and the way you do it is precisely that you don't make "GM" do it. You spin people off entirely, fund them, take ownership of the resulting entity, and then tell GM qua GM to just take a hike. Run it as a startup that happens to have a really, really big brother. In my observations, it's an unstable structure. Eventually the sponsor in the parent organization loses interest or power, and then someone in the parent corporation decides that their organization needs credit for what this little startup is doing, and sucks them back in, of course completely destroying the whole thing in the process. Behold the awesome destructive power of basic politics. Still, it can work for a while. In this particular case, "a while" is all we need. AIUI, for at least a good long while, this was almost an officially unofficial way to get Microsoft to do something it lacked confidence in to do directly or couldn't get the organization as a whole to move on; grab a few of your buddies & spin yourself out, prove it works, and get acquihired back in.
fma 7y ago
FWIW automanufacturers in China did this. So this isn't anything, or out of the realm of possibility (we do have more red tape in the US, i.e. see what happened w/ the Seattle Flu Study when people tried to be helpful). I don't have any English source for this. But Boris Johnson requested the same in England, too.
- dougweltman 7y ago
  UK asks automakers to join efforts to scale up ventilator production: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain/make-us-ventilators-to-fight-coronavirus-uk-asks-ford-and-rolls-royce-idUKKBN21316V https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain...
  - fma 7y ago
    Yeah - I mean I didn't have an English source for the same initiative that in China.
- mgsouth 7y ago
  A quick search finds some articles stating they will do this, but nothing about results. But of course politicians and CEOs would never make empty promises... Wikipedia says one Chinese manufacturer, Geely, sold 1.5 million vehicles last year [0]; that probably includes 700K Volvos [1] (they bought Volvo from Ford in 2010), so I'm guessing 600-700K domestic Chinese-produced vehicles. If they had successfully switched production, we'd be talking, what, 100s of thousands of devices a month? But not a word. If they were even making a few 10s of thousands a month I don't think we'd be having this conversation. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely#Figures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely#Figures [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars#Annual_sales_(all_models) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars#Annual_sales_(all_m...

jerf 7y ago

"Do we really think GM could, in effect, create an entirely new division in a couple of sprints?" Actually, such things are done with some frequency, and the way you do it is precisely that you don't make "GM" do it. You spin people off entirely, fund them, take ownership of the resulting entity, and then tell GM qua GM to just take a hike. Run it as a startup that happens to have a really, really big brother. In my observations, it's an unstable structure. Eventually the sponsor in the parent organization loses interest or power, and then someone in the parent corporation decides that their organization needs credit for what this little startup is doing, and sucks them back in, of course completely destroying the whole thing in the process. Behold the awesome destructive power of basic politics. Still, it can work for a while. In this particular case, "a while" is all we need. AIUI, for at least a good long while, this was almost an officially unofficial way to get Microsoft to do something it lacked confidence in to do directly or couldn't get the organization as a whole to move on; grab a few of your buddies & spin yourself out, prove it works, and get acquihired back in.

fma 7y ago

FWIW automanufacturers in China did this. So this isn't anything, or out of the realm of possibility (we do have more red tape in the US, i.e. see what happened w/ the Seattle Flu Study when people tried to be helpful). I don't have any English source for this. But Boris Johnson requested the same in England, too.

dougweltman 7y ago
UK asks automakers to join efforts to scale up ventilator production: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain/make-us-ventilators-to-fight-coronavirus-uk-asks-ford-and-rolls-royce-idUKKBN21316V https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain...
- fma 7y ago
  Yeah - I mean I didn't have an English source for the same initiative that in China.
mgsouth 7y ago
A quick search finds some articles stating they will do this, but nothing about results. But of course politicians and CEOs would never make empty promises... Wikipedia says one Chinese manufacturer, Geely, sold 1.5 million vehicles last year [0]; that probably includes 700K Volvos [1] (they bought Volvo from Ford in 2010), so I'm guessing 600-700K domestic Chinese-produced vehicles. If they had successfully switched production, we'd be talking, what, 100s of thousands of devices a month? But not a word. If they were even making a few 10s of thousands a month I don't think we'd be having this conversation. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely#Figures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely#Figures [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars#Annual_sales_(all_models) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars#Annual_sales_(all_m...