| Last week I had the opportunity to visit with | | | | Guthrie's son at a day camp for "retarded |
| friends of mine in the greater Seattle area. As we | | | | children" in Clarence when I was 14 or 15 years |
| chatted over the weekend, I began to think | | | | of age. His son was born with a problem known |
| about their new project to raise awareness "of | | | | now as PKU or phenylketon-uria which is a disease |
| children who learn differently." You see, both | | | | which in a simple form causes ingested proteins |
| founders are moms with children who learn | | | | to create poison like fluids in a baby sometimes |
| differently. Their organization is..."Life's a Poodle." | | | | resulting in "mental retardation." Standard formula |
| More on this later! | | | | or milk products poison the baby's system. |
| On the plane on my way home I thought of Life's | | | | Discovered as a problem in the early 1930s, the |
| a Poodle and other major influences on both my | | | | only way to control the problem was through diet. |
| life and the thirst to understand how to tame | | | | Dr, Guthrie was immersed in his son's problems, |
| conflict points (problems) for products and | | | | but did not stop there. He noted the conflict |
| services through the use of sensible market | | | | (problem) and developed the Guthrie Test for |
| research consisting of market immersion. | | | | early detection of PKU prior to the first feeding in |
| In 1950, Wilson Greatbatch graduated from | | | | 1958, which became a standard blood test in all |
| Cornell University with a B.E.E. or Bachelors of | | | | United States hospitals in 1966. With early |
| Electrical Engineering. He went on to live in a small | | | | detection from a small drop of blood, Dr. Guthrie's |
| community outside Buffalo, NY by the name of | | | | work has prevented hundreds of thousands of |
| Clarence, NY where I spent most of my | | | | small lives being challenged. |
| childhood. In order to augment his family's living | | | | Dr, Guthrie would probably not have developed |
| expenses, his children sold eggs door-to-door in | | | | the test had it not been for his dealing with his |
| the local community gathered daily from hens in | | | | own family's challenges. He was immersed. |
| their backyard. I had the privilege of attending | | | | Back to Life's a Poodle. The two week old |
| Clarence High School with his daughter so the | | | | company was developed by two moms of |
| story following plays a significant role in my | | | | children who learn differently. They understand |
| market research thought process. | | | | the heartbreak for the families as well as the child |
| According to a biographical website ..."One | | | | navigating the public school systems in a race to |
| afternoon in the late 1950s, he was inspired by a | | | | maximize his or her sense of security, well-being |
| mistake to invent one of the most significant | | | | and contribution to society. They were immersed |
| medical devices of all time: the implantable cardiac | | | | in their family's own needs, but stepped out to |
| pacemaker. | | | | assist other families with children "who learn |
| Greatbatch was building an oscillator to record | | | | differently," by raising awareness of the issue. At |
| heart sounds. When he accidentally installed a | | | | the same time they want all to have fun by |
| resistor with the wrong resistance into the unit, it | | | | raising this awareness as is indicated by "laughing |
| began to give off a steady electrical pulse. | | | | out loud" through "The Poodle Dance" and the |
| Greatbatch realized that the small device could be | | | | "Poodletini," as illustrated on their website. |
| used to regulate the human heart. After two | | | | While the reader may come from many |
| years of refinements, he had hand-crafted the | | | | businesses and industries, (my background is |
| world's first successful implantable pacemaker | | | | building materials not medical or educational) the |
| (patent #3,057,356). Until that time, the apparatus | | | | same needs apply to any new product or service |
| used to regulate heartbeat was the size of a | | | | development task. It has to come from |
| television set, and painful to use. " | | | | immersion in the market, (one has to thoroughly |
| How was this life saving discovery made again...by | | | | understand and identify the conflict) not |
| making a mistake, maybe by learning differently, | | | | development in a factory or think-tank going |
| but for sure by understanding a conflict (problem) | | | | forward. Solving the known conflict (problem), |
| in medicine through his being in the market, and | | | | maybe through making mistakes or via "learning a |
| capitalizing for the better good for all mankind | | | | different way" is the best way to new product or |
| through his mistake. | | | | service development. |
| My next inspiration came from a doctor from | | | | Market back not factory/think-tank forward. This |
| Minneapolis (later Western NY) by the name of | | | | is how the truly successful developments are |
| Robert Guthrie. Actually, I worked with Dr. | | | | created. |