"Flop of the month"
Innovation and risk taking are the 2 tenets on which success always depends! However the rhetoric of innovation - the favourite buzz word at the moment is the claim to be a lifelong learner - is all too often nullified by fear and being averse to changes. This error terror often stifles creativity ultimately genuine efforts for innovation.
Well, BMW takes a different approach than most organizations. The BMW factory in Regensburg, Germany has demonstrated that by rewarding genuine mistakes in the quest for innovation, prople are further encouraged to take sensible and calculated risks. BMW believes that those who depart from the conventional and innovate with a calculated risk, should not, if things go wrong, be mocked or derided, but encouraged to take further sensible risks in the spirit of optimism. I believe this is what will fuel constant innovation in its true sense.
In precisely this spirit, Gerhard Bihl, head of personnel and social services at BMW Regensburg, started an initiative with an original title - "Flop of the month" or more elegantly known as "Creative error of the month". The workshop was a success so much so that besides the successful ideas selected for innovation awards, there were an equal no of unsuccessful ideas that bombed being selected for awards, as well.
Gerhard Bihl piloted the project for more than 3 years, during which time 12 awards were given away. Sadly, after Bihl left BMW, the scheme seems to have petered away.
However, its good to see one of the best innovators in the auto industry, coming up with yet another innovative idea for rewarding bombed innovations!
Jaydeep Deshpande
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
EMW Vs BMW
Everybody knows what a BMW is. So let me just talk about its "berlin-wall" relationship with EMW (Eisenacher Motoren Werk). An interesting fact!
EMW was an east german manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles based in Eisenach. after world war II, one of tha BMW factories located in the eastern sector was taken over by the soviets. This factory continued producing cars and motorcycles under the BMW name, but after a lawsuit that was filed in 1952 they had to change the name to EMW instead. the logo type was also similar but instead of the blue BMW used, EMW used red. Later the automobile section of EMW became VEB Automobile werk Eisenach and built a car called "Wartburg". The motorcycle section became AWO and later Simson.
Jaydeep Deshpande
Everybody knows what a BMW is. So let me just talk about its "berlin-wall" relationship with EMW (Eisenacher Motoren Werk). An interesting fact!
EMW was an east german manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles based in Eisenach. after world war II, one of tha BMW factories located in the eastern sector was taken over by the soviets. This factory continued producing cars and motorcycles under the BMW name, but after a lawsuit that was filed in 1952 they had to change the name to EMW instead. the logo type was also similar but instead of the blue BMW used, EMW used red. Later the automobile section of EMW became VEB Automobile werk Eisenach and built a car called "Wartburg". The motorcycle section became AWO and later Simson.
Jaydeep Deshpande
Bimmer vs Beamer/beemer
Bimmer: It is the correct and accepted slang for BMW cars. Majority doesnt know this.
Beamer/ Beemer: It is the correct and accepted slang for BMW motorcycles. Novices confuse this for bimmers.
BMW got an early and a big start on two wheels. In those days BMW motocycles were in to racing with one of their competitors being BSA motorcycles. a racing track slang somehow, sometime started with the BMS bikes being referred as "beemers" while the BSA bikes being referred as "beesers". And it was obvious that no true enthusiast of a BMW car would want it to be tagged as beemer, hence the car was called as the bimmer.
Jaydeep Deshpande
Bimmer: It is the correct and accepted slang for BMW cars. Majority doesnt know this.
Beamer/ Beemer: It is the correct and accepted slang for BMW motorcycles. Novices confuse this for bimmers.
BMW got an early and a big start on two wheels. In those days BMW motocycles were in to racing with one of their competitors being BSA motorcycles. a racing track slang somehow, sometime started with the BMS bikes being referred as "beemers" while the BSA bikes being referred as "beesers". And it was obvious that no true enthusiast of a BMW car would want it to be tagged as beemer, hence the car was called as the bimmer.
Jaydeep Deshpande
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