Grace was excited to meet up again with Shirley and Jim. It had been a year since they last met, and Grace couldn’t wait to discuss with them the progress they had made. She had hoped that Shirley and Jim would be able to return for several more meetings because it would not be possible to describe what had been accomplished in just one meeting.
As Shirley and Jim entered the conference room, they were met by two other people. Grace began by saying: “Let me introduce you to Marlowe Adkins and Slocomb Haskins. Working together, they developed a breakthrough product that is fast becoming a major part of our business.”
“Shirley, may recall that you proposed that we blend together creative talents to see whether that synergy would result in creative breakthroughs. I’m pleased to say that it did. You told us that some people have the creative talent to be discoverers. That’s Slocomb. And others have a creative talent of being extenders. That’s Marlowe. Before they tell you about their product idea, do you have any questions?
“I do”, responded Shirley. “Could we focus more on how the creative synergy came about than the product itself?”
“I agree”, said Jim. “I want to know how the combination of you two working together changed your brains.”
“Could you describe how that synergy came about?” asked Shirley.
“Well at first, it didn’t”, responded Marlowe. “We were at each other’s throats. I don’t know if Grace did this intentionally or not, but she sent us on a trip to represent the company at a trade show. It was a six-hour drive and she wouldn’t let us take a plane.”
“Well, that was awkward to start”, added Slocomb. “For the first hour we said very little. I don’t know how it started but Marlowe began telling me about the 3D printing art she was doing. She asked me about the physics involved. I began to get an entirely new image of Marlowe. Her work is incredible.”
“Then Slocomb told me about how he ran a bike recycling center where people could donate used bikes that were no longer needed. He would refurbish these and give them to children with limited resources. Up to that point, I never would have imagined Slocomb as being so hands on”, said Marlowe.
“When we got to the trade show, I saw a new dimension of Marlowe I never knew existed”, added Slocomb. “She has this natural ability to talk with people about our product that I don’t have. I marveled at her knowledge of our products and her ability to ask questions about our customers’ needs. I just sat back and took notes. There was one conversation that sparked the idea for the new product.”
Marlowe then added: “On the way home, we essentially created the product idea. Slocomb would begin with his vision for what we could do technically, and then I could add my practical sense. When we came back to work, it didn’t take long to make the idea a reality.”
“Grace, did you have a reason for making them be together for six-hours in a car?”, asked Jim.
A twinkle in her eye told Jim and Shirley the answer.
“This has been so helpful”, added Shirley. “Jim could you and I work together to digest what we just heard? And Grace, could we meet again to explore the lessons we just learned here?
“Certainly”, responded Grace. “Feel free to connect again with Slocomb or Marlowe if you need more information.”
* * *
“There is a reason that credits for many of the Beatles’ songs are Lennon/McCartney not Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr.” – Anonymous