In 2010, Thomas Thwaites decided he wanted to build a toaster from scratch. He walked into a shop, purchased the cheapest toaster he could find, and promptly went home and broke it down piece by piece. By the time he was finished deconstructing it, there were more than 400 components laid out on his floor.
The Toaster Project
Thomas Thwaites set out to build a toaster from scratch.
- He called up BP and asked if they would fly him out to an oil rig and lend him some oil for the project. They refused, so he had to settle for collecting plastic scraps and melting them into the shape of his toaster case.
Don’t Start From Scratch
Creative progress is rarely the result of throwing out all previous ideas and innovations and completely re-imagining the world.
- The most effective way to make progress is usually by making 1 percent improvements to what already works rather than breaking down the whole system and starting over.
Iterate, Don’t Originate
When dealing with a complex problem, it is usually better to build upon what already works
- Any idea that is currently working has passed a lot of tests
- Old ideas are a secret weapon because they have already managed to survive in a complex world
