Back in the mid-eighties, my father taught me a very important lesson about big problems. At that time, he was working on a project for a little organization called NASA, and he had hit a brick wall in the research and development of what they wanted. So, he went into work, got out a whiteboard, put it on an easel in the middle of the cubicle cluster where he worked, and put in big letters across the top of it “How do we make the instruments that NASA wants from us?” Then he left a pile of pens out for his co-workers.
After a day or two, there were piles of ideas on that board. Some were good – some not so good. But the end result was that he was able to cobble together an idea that went from the drawing board to the production line, and almost ten years after his death, those instruments are still in service at NASA, at least until the space shuttle program is closed.
So where’s the whiteboard for BP? Or more importantly, is anyone actually reading any suggestions that are coming in to their offices in the first place? I can’t say anything for certain on either of those questions. However, I can say what BP, the Obama administration, and everyone else needs to do right now. It’s just two easy steps:
1. Read every suggestion that comes in to BP, the government, or anywhere else on how to clean up the oil spill.
2. Sort through the ideas, and keep trying until something (or a combination of somethings) works.
That’s it. Simple. No arguments. No worrying about who suggests the ideas. No prioritizing based on where an idea came from, just on the merit of the idea. Remember the kid and the tractor trailer that was stuck in the tunnel. Remember the “right” idea might not come from the scientists or engineers. Above all else, stop making it a political issue. If Shoq Value’s Oil #Corral idea would prove to be “the one”, there shouldn’t be a negative word from a single conservative. It’s an oil spill, not a tea party. There’s plenty of time to point fingers, and place blame after the oil’s not spoiling the gulf and the shorelines. Save that bullshit for later. Now, we’re just Americans, and we need to make it clear that we want that whiteboard.
Tags: #corral, Barack Obama, BP Oil Spill, Shoq Value
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