Content caption:
Back in the 70’s Japanese farmers faced a problem…
Producing watermelons had the challenge of storage since they take too much space, and easily get damaged in transport…
Anyone would drop this fruit and go to the next one but instead, these farmers came up with an idea: Planting the seeds inside a squared box to create a square watermelon!
This idea simplified shipping, storage and reduced damage in transit.
Key takeaways:
- Don’t assume: Regardless of how obvious it looks, never settle for current conditions;
- Question habits: It is key to always question status quo;
- Be creative: always look for better ways;
- “Impossibles” often aren’t. Seriously: squared watermelons?!
Note: The squared watermelon story is meant to illustrate out of the box thinking by the farmers at the time. Despite the fact that cube melons were designed with practicality in mind, the cost is prohibitive. The watermelon’s cube shape can only be obtained at the expense of the fruit’s contents. Cube melons must be plucked before they are fully mature in order to keep their shape, which makes them inedible.
Disclaimer: Apologies if some interpretations may offend a reader. I do rely on literal translation at times since English is a second language. My intention with this article is to spread awareness. I welcome your feedback to ensure I will not be constantly making the same errors in translation.
I also write about my own professional experience and learning curve. I am a continuous improvement learner so I welcome you to share extra information and spread awareness with me if you have other ways of analyzing the same issues or you have value-added information to the readers of this article. Thank you for reading.