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AnnalsOfInnovation

I love to hear stories about how people came up with an idea for a new business or a new product. This week I read an article in The New Yorker, September 5 issue, called "Annals of Technology: The Bake-off." It's about a competition to develop the ultimate cookie.

The idea started with a man who runs one of the country's foremost food R&D firms. His company designs packaged foods, and you can't walk through a supermarket without seeing dozens of products they've worked on.

He wanted to test alternative approaches to innovation, and he borrowed ideas from the software business. One team of two food designers applied an Extreme Programming approach. Another team of 15 experts from companies around the country took an open source approach. And a third team used a conventional team structure, with a chief designer and a development team to support her.

For those of you who occasionally find yourself trapped in that old and endless conversation called "What's the best way to develop software?," you might find some good food for thought in this article. It's fascinating to see familiar ideas applied in a different context.

I don't want to ruin the punchline and tell you which team won the bake-off -- even if you're not an effete intellectual snob, give yourself permission to buy this issue of New Yorker and enjoy the article.

StuartScott on 2 September 2005