[egillia3]

Hey it’s Eric (the author). I talk quite a bit in the article about how to make the lessons of places like Bell and GE work even if you’re not attached to a large lab.

Repurposing Bell-style systems engineers to isolate white hot problems is one example. Another is the general BBN-style approach which worked for them as a stand-alone R&D firm. I have stand alone pieces where I explore both of those quite a bit.

In general, I don’t think the concept of the playbooks of the great industrial R&D labs not working in firms un-attached to large firms holds much water.

[fuzzfactor]

Excellent article.

I'm going to have to look at some of your other material.

Experimentation is different than other research or engineering but I think anything that amounts to a "system" can benefit from a systems problem solver who can perform as needed across the whole system.

Any organization is fortunate to have a person who can go without routine or typical workdays and do this.

It does seem like the bigger companies which have the most clearly defined roles can eventually get by on momentum without having anyone at all in a creative problem-solving position.

OTOH a small outfit can deploy unique problem-solving ability using only a handful of people that many corporations have none of. So the "very, very best people" may be what can get the momentum going to begin with given the right opportunity.