What is now proved was once only imagined

William Blake said that.
I was thinking about this observation as I was reading Paul Barrett’s book titled Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun (Paul is a world class reporter and an assistant managing editor of Bloomberg Businessweek). I read it because I was told that it gives a good account of Gaston Glock’s story. In short, it describes how an obscure Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer designed and manufactured the Glock pistol—the pistol which has been embraced by two-thirds of all U.S. police departments, glamorized in countless Hollywood movies, and featured as a ubiquitous presence on prime-time TV.

So, how did Gaston Glock,  an obscure Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer, designed and manufactured perhaps the most popular firearm in the last 30 years? Here’s a little taste from Barrett’s book as told by the American firearm authority Patrick Sweeny:

“He got it rich, Sweeny wrote, “because he hadn’t done it before. One of the largest problems in getting a new design accepted by an established manufacturer is not just the ‘not invented here’ syndrome, but also the ‘we don’t have the tooling’ syndrome. Why invent something new when you can simply modify what you have?” Glock started with a blank sheet of paper. He listened to his military customers. He made adjustments they requested. As a result, he came up with something original…
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My 2¢:
So what can we learn about business from Gaston Glock? Here’s a couple of suggestions:
a. We are what we imagine ourselves to be. It’s easy to forget that. Prior to designing and manufacturing the now famous Glock pistol, Gaston Glock had zero experience in the firearms business.
b. Taste Younique. What’s so great about being typical anyway?