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Article
THE $2000 TREBUCHET: FLYING PUMPKINS AND PROCESS DESIGN
By
Merit Smith
Vice
President There is a book that is truly dangerous, and I will not name it in the interest of protecting you from yourself and me from the author’s lawyers. But it has a title something like Backyard Trebuchets. If you see it, do not touch it. Run away. Of course, you will not follow my well-intentioned advice.
The book tells you how to build a medieval catapult device in your backyard that can fling a pumpkin 1500 feet. By now, most female readers have gone on to another article, but guys are thinking “cool!”
Here is what you should know:
 | Yes, Dad and college-bound son can build a functioning trebuchet.
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| A trebuchet will fling a pumpkin-size object a truly amazing distance.
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| Trebuchets are somewhat tricky to aim. |
| Trebucheting can be expensive. Here is a representative cost based on one shot of a well-designed backyard trebuchet:
 | Materials for the trebuchet: $198.56
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| Neighbor’s broken window: $843.31 |
| Stain removal for neighbor’s carpet: $135.00 |
| Tropical fish replacement: $280.00
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| Neighbor’s lawyer (category: brother-in-law, sub-type: shyster): $235.00
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| My lawyer (category: Yellow Pages, sub-type: shyster): $59.99
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| Flowers for my neighbor: $35.00 |
| Flowers for my wife: $25.00 |
| Flowers for my wife after she sees the florist’s bill for my neighbor’s flowers: $65.00
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| Total educational value of the do-it-yourself trebuchet project: $1,876.86
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| Luckily, most backyard trebuchets are one-shot devices. |
Many executives approach design of their core business processes like a
backyard do-it-yourself project. You know the buzzwords that make up the
drill: cross-functional team, team-building, flip charts,
vision, implementation coordination, project reprogramming,
and legal fees.
Trebuchet lessons for process design:
| When you identify a project or process that needs redesign, you may want to think twice before you do it yourself and launch your pumpkin.
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| Many times, “well-designed” processes have unintended (but predictable) results.
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| Unlike weekend do-it-yourself projects, gray hair helps in process design.
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If you have an important process whose cost or quality might benefit from redesign, call us. We might be able to help you prevent a do-it-yourself disaster. By the way, if you call me, I’ll send you a harmless desktop trebuchet.
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