“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head.  It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.  And then he feels that perhaps there isn't.” ‑‑ A. A. Milne.

Does our Inertia Prevent (or Slow Down) Improvement?

There are many historical examples of inertia. Examples of new ideas that simply could not make their breakthrough because accepted wisdom, the current paradigm, was so powerful. Human history is littered with examples. What does this mean for business ideas?
The Greek philosopher Democritus first suggested the Germ Theory of disease. In the fourth century B.C. he proposed germ-like substances cause illness. More than two millennia later, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur and the German physician Robert Koch were finally able to establish the theory, based on microscopic observation and experimental evidence. Even then they still faced skepticism and doubt.

Edward Jenner
discovered that farmers that were in contact with cattle tended to not contract small pox. He experimented with a farmer’s son injecting him with cowpox germs. The boy took ill but only mildly. After he recovered Jenner injected smallpox germs. He expected the boy would not contract the disease and that was exactly what happened. Despite this proof he faced a lot of skepticism as shown by this cartoon from the period.
Vaccination was accepted relatively quickly, but the cartoon shows the huge difficulties new ideas can face. The cartoon is by James Gillray (1756–1806)

























Back to my question.
What does this mean for new business ideas? What does this mean for ideas about the process of managing a business?
Here is an example. Little’s Law (simplified) states that the more work in process the longer the lead-time of the process. In addition, the more work in process, the more difficult it is for workers on the factory floor to discern the correct priorities. The implication of these two sentences is factories should cut the amount of work in process. If they do that lead-times can drop dramatically, priorities will be much clearer and the factory will end up producing significantly more of the correct product. Reliability gets better.
How many factories do you know that have dramatically reduced their work in process and just as dramatically reduced their lead times? Probably there are not many. Why is that if the necessary actions are so easy very few managers actually dare to take action – even if only good can come from implementation?
Is it because we don’t have time to think?
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