Just returned from the future - It's really cool there!

This past week was one of those weeks that remind me that I have one of the coolest jobs ever at a great place to work. Sorry to flaunt that if you really did not want to hear that Trek was not a great place. If that was the case, you probably would not be here reading my blog.

I have been lucky to be involved with a lot of great projects while I have been here. Some have been trailside experiments that have made a huge difference in our mountain bikes. Some have been more subtle. And some have been the kind of thing that makes you say later, "Wow, why did it take us so long to think of that?" 

Sometimes a new project is best done by one person and at other times it is best done with group. The group thing can be really cool when everyone in the room really gets it. There is a sort of group mind share thing that happens and it can be really exciting. Everyone sort of zigs and zags at the same time in unified directions. Do you remember the scene in Jurrassic Park, where the dinos were running and turning all together and what's-his-name (you know, the scientist guy) notices that they do not really communicate - they just do it - it's sort of like that.

Sort of like that!  Although trying to avoid the high pants.

We have divided our product development efforts along the lines of final users. Seems obvious, but we can all relate to mountain bikers being different than road riders and urban riders being different etc...  If you live in one of those worlds, it is hard to think like a member of the other worlds. Also pretty obvious, eh? I am pretty smart that way. 

Getting us back to this week and how good it was, we did a cool group excercise this week with the "Town Bike Group". We had all the designers, product managers, and marketing people together from that group and took things all the way back to square one and rebuilt it. Who the rider is, what they like to ride, where they like to ride, how they ride, what they want to ride in the future etc... Good stuff.

It never ceases to amaze me how a group can come together through these exercises. They all live the Town category of bikes and bike stuff every single day of their life. There probably are not a dozen people in the world that are closer to that cycling lifestyle in the world. They commute by bike, they shop by bike, they go out to dinner by bike... 

We did a group customer ethos excercise this past week. The results of which were super exciting. I cannot tell you all the details, you will just have to wait. Sorry to do that to you. I can tell you that the new products that will come from that group going forward will be beyond what anyone expects in that category of bikes. 

I have just returned from the future - they still have burritos there - and dang are the bikes they ride there really cool.

Out.

Joe

 

 

Comments

[Dan O]

Bikes and burritos - do you really need anything else? I think not...