These techniques are still very much in use. In the Western world, however, there is a tendency to consider these old-fashioned techniques as somewhat hippie-like and indeed very diverged from that of modern medicine studies and research. Fieldwork and product development within the medicine and pharmaceutical industry are mostly done in laboratories and involve highly skilled scientists, budgets and business plans. And though this is not necessarily a bad thing, there could perhaps be some valuable insights and possibilities out there in the nature?

An Australian weed field.

Australian pharmaceutical company Peplin (bought by Denmark-based Leo Pharma in December 2009) are currently working on the development of a new gel to treat Actinic Keratoses (AK), which is the most common pre-cancerous skin condition and caused by excessive sunbathing and use of solariums. And even if most pharmaceutical and medicine companies are constantly working on product development to ensure proper medicine for patients and steady revenue for the company, the story of Peplin’s work with the gel is extraordinary.

For years, Australian locals have used the white sap from a certain weed to cure warts, fight skin cancer and other face lesions. This plant, the Euphorbia Peplus or just Petty Spurge, is actually a common known weed, ruining gardens all over the world – including Denmark and Australia. It came to Peplin’s attention that the plant was worth a study. And the result: it turns out that the sap from the Petty Spurge is indeed very, very powerful and not just the result of a local wonder tale. Besides the gel to treat Actinic Keratoses, Peplin are now conducting heavy research into other products based on the Euphorbia Peplus.

PEP005 is the working title of the gel, which Peplin will launch in 2012 – to a market with a high level of potential: The direct costs for AK in the United States was $1.2 billion in 2004. 58 million people in the United States are living with AK, 11% to 25% of adults in the Northern hemisphere populations and 40% to 60% of adults in Australia have at least one AK lesion.

And the essence of this story? Besides the fact that Peplin’s gel will safe lives, it points towards the potential benefits of moving away from the office or the laboratory. When working with product development, design, manufacturing – in whatever business you are in – we need to realise that we cannot invent everything in the controlled, sterilized environment of our offices or laboratories. We need to get out into the nature, researching wonder tales, talk to people, listen to stories, local traditions and knowledge – in the very same way historic explorers embarked on adventurous scientific and exploratory expeditions.

(Sources: Peplin, Leo Pharma, Wikipedia and Medical News Today)

For years, NASA has been the primary force in exploring what’s above the sky. They have led countless spaceships into, well yes, space, been a leading force in the ISS Space Station, landed on the moon in 1969 and given us unseen footage and knowledge via the Hubble Telescope and satellites.

So, you would think that their near limitless budget would ensure their leading role in everything they do? Well, think again. British amateur enthusiast Robert Harrison wanted to take his own photos of space. Browsing through the Internet, Harrison found the recipe for what ended as an enormous success. With a $747 setup consisting of a helium balloon, a GPS tracking device, a small parachute and a camera programmed to sleep and reactivate every five minutes to take eight photos and record video. Dubbed “Icarus”, he launched the balloon and the camera rig – and the result is absolutely spectacular.

After posting the results on the Internet, the footage buzzed around the web, and caught the attention of mighty NASA. They phoned him up, curious to know how he had done it. Certain that he must have used an expensive (home made) rocket, they were amazed and bedazzled when they realised that it was a home made $747-camera rig that had outperformed their million dollar setups.

And the learning? NASA is a huge organisation with 17,900 highly skilled employees and a $17.7 billion budget. Still, one single amateur came up with a solution far superior to those of NASA. And why? Harrison didn’t have any managers to refer to, bureaucracy to fight or meetings to attend. He just had an idea and the curiosity to pursue it. So he did. That is a truly fascinating story about a single persons “Skunk Worked” project. And perhaps NASA should give that same “Skunk Works” model a go?

(Source: Gnews.com, Wikipedia, Robertharrison.org and Flickr)

At that time, more than 300 trailer builders operated in USA and the competition was fierce. Out of these +300 trailer builders, Airstream Trailer Co. is the only company that’s still alive. And why is that? Because Wally Byam and his team were focused on extremely high quality and innovative solutions and kept on enhancing the quality of the trailers. Today, more than 60% of all Airstreams ever built are still used to grant their owners luxurious accommodations when travelling.

(One of the first Airstream Trailers. Source: http://bit.ly/cKlaay)

But what has Airstream Trailers got to do with social media?
Social media has revolutionised the Internet, and there are no limits to the omnipresent homage of how social media has reinvented contact, interaction, communities, communication, user-driven content, innovation and collaboration. Just to name a few. And, don’t get me wrong, we fully recognise that social media are absolutely brilliant tools in strengthening these concepts. No doubt about that. But social media didn’t invent these. Social media is but a mere tool for these notions.

The Airstream Trailers, known as the ‘aluminium skinned, gleaming silver bullets’, became a massive success despite their relatively high price. Why? Because what Wally Byam and the Airstream team did, was to offer more than just selling a product:

– They established a community around the trailers – the The Wally Byam Caravan Club (www.wbcci.org). What we today would call a brand community.
– They created long-lasting relations with their customers. What we today would call relationship marketing.
– This club would meet up several times a year in several different areas in the US, traversing the highways together. What we today would call a tribe.
– Furthermore, the WBCCI generated more rallies, annual trips and loads of feedback on improvements to the trailers. Result? Byam’s idea of “Let’s not make any changes – let’s make only improvements” allowed his team to use the ideas of their customers to enhance the trailers – based on the experience from the customers. What we today would call user-driven innovation and idea generation.

These things, combined with Byam’s and his teams’ width, resulted in a massive number of improvements to the trailers. Due to this, Byam managed to secure a vast number of patents. All because he and the Airstream team engaged with their customers and responded to their feedback. And this all happened in the 1940es and 1950es.
 Our point? Social media are excellent tools, but what they do is nothing new. The technology is but a mere enabler. The idea and the people empowering it are the real drivers.

(Airstream owners on a joint adventure. Source: http://bit.ly/dbCqYB)

The Airstream case is interesting, as it is an example of how ‘new’ thinking (or Integrated Thinking) already took place before the terms were even coined. Do you know of any other examples where ‘new’ thinking took place many years ago? If so, feel free to comment.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstream, http://www.wbcci.org/ and http://www.diefahrbar.de/history/index.html