This myth was debunked very nicely by Dr Karl; and the story goes something like this: According to John McMasters, who back in the ‘good old days’ was principal engineer on the aerodynamics staff at Boeing Commercial Aeroplanes, it seems the aerodynamicist of the myth was probably an unnamed Swiss professor famous in the 1930s and 1940s for his work in supersonic gas dynamics. The aerodynamicist was having dinner with a biologist. In the idle chit-chat, the biologist noted that bees
and wasps had very flimsy wings — but heavy bodies. So how could they possibly fly?
With absolutely no hard data, but a willingness to help that overcame good dinner party etiquette, the aerodynamicist made two assumptions in his back of envelope calculations.
The first assumption was that the bees’ wings were flat plates that were mostly smooth (like aeroplane wings). The second assumption was that as air flows over an insect’s wings, it would separate easily from the wing. Both of these assumptions turned out to be totally incorrect — and the origin of our myth.
The aerodynamicist’s initial rough calculations ‘proved’ that insects could not fly. But that was not the end of the story.
Of course, being a good scientist, his sense of curiosity got him interested in this problem. Clearly, insects can fly. He then examined insect wings under a microscope and found that they had a ragged and rough surface. In other words, one of his assumptions was way off.
But by then, overzealous journalists had spread the myth he had inadvertently created. The story had flown free, even though the bumblebee supposedly couldn’t.
There is a lesson in that for all of us: Things that we know today are always overturned in the face of advancing knowledge. As time goes by, we learn things that allow us to create better explanations, but no matter how good the explanation today, there is always a better one tomorrow.
Just like we once thought the earth was flat and that the stars revolved around us, we now know better. Just as Newton’s explanations were eclipsed by Einstein’s theories, everything we know today is at best found to be only partially correct tomorrow.
So how can the truth change? Well the answer is that it hasn’t. The universe is still the same as it ever was. When a theory is said to be ‘true’ it means that it agrees with all known experimental evidence.
Whatever way you choose, when it comes to human affairs like business strategy, marketing, management, and the like, clearly there are no absolutes.
What is right today is wrong tomorrow.
NOTE: My claim of no absolutes refers to the the subjects of human endeavour and not to abstract reasoning and philosophical , metaphysical concepts. Everything is not relative and absolute truth exists – just not in things like retail strategy.
But more immediately and possibly more relevant to most of us mere mortals, this shifting foundation of knowledge means that we should recognise this universal truth. The more convicted you are of your opinion, the more compelling the consultant’s exposition the more certain you can be that it, while it may seem right now, it is bound to be proven wrong tomorrow.
KEY LEARNING #1: Whoever is best at the strategic arbitrage opportunities and can identify the shifts and changes best and soonest stands to profit most. The first movers have the best opportunity to win biggest.
If you research and study the evolution of the ‘marketing concept’ or the ‘evolution of retailing’ then you will notice that ‘the right way’ is always the current way of doing it – the prevailing paradigm so to speak. Current best practice is always superseded by something better.
KEY LEARNING #2: So a healthy dose of cynicism is a prerequisite in our modern world; for the lack of it will result in us chasing down the ephemeral promises of every fad that comes along – at great cost to the business.
Have Fun
Dennis @ Ganador – helping to organisations learn how to perform.