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The Rear End of a Horse

23 March, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

There is an urban myth that the design of the rockets that propel the shuttle into space is constrained by the size of a horses bum.

The logic goes something like this:

1.  The rocket diameter was constrained by the width of the railway tunnels that the train that delivered the rocket passed through.
2.  The tunnel width was designed to accommodate two railway tracks.
3.  The railway track width (gauge) was designed by British engineers following George Stephenson’s lead when he built the Stockton to Darlington Railway.
4.  George Stephenson’s design was based on the distance between the wheels of horse drawn carts.
5.  The width of horse drawn carts is designed to accommodate two horse’s bums.

Does the logic follow down to the millimetre?  Probably not, but there is no doubt an element of “we have always done it that way” in there somewhere.

There are two morals to this story:

1.  What have you always done that way?  Why? Could you change it?  What would happen if you did?

or

2.  Isn’t it amazing what you can do if you work within the constraints you have?

Pick the one you like most.

Photo by Girish Dalvi on Unsplash

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: constraints, continuous improvement, innovation, reinforcing behaviour

About the Author

James Lawther
James Lawther

James Lawther is a middle-aged, middle manager.

To reach this highly elevated position he has worked in numerous industries, from supermarket retailing to tax collecting.  He has had several operational roles, including running the night shift in a frozen pea packing factory and carrying out operational research for a credit card company.

As you can see from his C.V. he has either a wealth of experience or is incapable of holding down a job.  If the latter is true this post isn’t worth a minute of your attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to read it and decide for yourself.

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