Short Thort

Darrell Mann

“INDECISION, n. The chief element of success; “for whereas,” saith Sir Thomas Brewbold, “there is but one way to do nothing and divers way to do something, whereof, to a surety, only one is the right way, it … Read More

Investments – Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Darrell Mann

A new material developed by University of Colorado Boulder engineers can transform into complex, pre-programmed shapes via light and temperature stimuli, allowing a literal square peg to morph and fit into a round hole before fully reverting to … Read More

Biology – Mole

Darrell Mann

Despite the havoc they’ve managed to wreak in my vegetable garden this summer, I still maintain a sneaking admiration of moles. Weighing about 100g and having a length of about 12cm, they somehow manage to burrow their way … Read More

Wow In Music – Happy

Darrell Mann

Earworms. Yes. And no. Earworms are songs that you’re unable to get out of your head. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes it isn’t. Scientists at the University of St Andrews have named the Top 20 official … Read More

Generational Cycles – The Over-65 Gold-Rush

Darrell Mann

From a recent article in The Washington Post:

Executives at Gillette have for decades defined shaving as a rite of passage. The company famously mails out free razors — with “welcome to manhood” cards — to … Read More

Patent of the Month – Electro-Manipulation of Cells

Darrell Mann

Patent of the month this month comes from a sextet of inventors at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. US10,070,914 was granted on September 11, and primarily seems to concern the treatment of cancer cells, but it would … Read More

Not So Funny – TRIZ Before TRIZ

Darrell Mann

TRIZ research started after the Second World War. The ethos of the research originated around the reverse engineering of successful patents and inventive solutions. What’s less clear is whether there was any parallel inverse research to establish whether … Read More

Case Study: Patient Compliance Small Picture

Darrell Mann

Back in April we wrote an article about the difficulties of achieving patient compliance within the healthcare sector (Reference 1). The focus there was very much on the big picture, and, as such, the conclusions we drew could … Read More

Best of The Month – Wait

Darrell Mann

Almost everywhere you go, in Operational Excellence world at least, the word ‘procrastination’ is a bad one. If someone accuses you of being a procrastinator, you can be sure they’re not complimenting you. We’ve argued in the ezine … Read More

If Methods Don’t Work, What Does?

Darrell Mann

I’ve used the above slide at a number of conferences now. Usually to a reaction of either stunned silence or an eventual half-hearted challenge from an advocate of one of the methods I’ve chosen to include in … Read More