My associates in Mumbai sent me a bunch of videos, and a week ago, Solomon Salvis mentioned that Amit Suvarna had put together a new video on Square Wheels.

It is always neat to see someone else pick up on my themes and put their ideas together. They spin things differently than I would sometimes, which always gets me to think of alternatives and frameworks. Guess that is how creativity works…

They put it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9vesahH05k
and they strung together some good illustrations, including The View at The Front and The View at The Back, two of the persistent audience favorites. The basic  idea is that the Round Wheels are already in the wagon, but the Square Wheels represent how things really work in most organizations. Companies are so invested in how they do things — now — that they cannot seem to make the simple changes to involve and engage their own people in the issues and opportunities that represent small incremental improvements for the future.

"The View at the Front" IS different than "The View at the Back"of the wagon. Wouldn't you agree?

Everyone says that these initiatives of getting people involved are not Rocket Science and I would agree. Seems pretty simple to me and this worked pretty darn well when I managed 126 retail stores a long time ago. People had lots of good ideas and the key was to identify, evaluate and implement.

Guess this would be my only “rocket science” cartoon:

Couldn't help myself, but Square Wheels on the Starship Enterprise actually make sense...

Funny, but people have always said that Square Wheels are great for cooking hot dogs, for controlling on very steep downhills and for helicopters. The Starship Enterprise and its sister ships could also benefit with them, I guess. Ya think?