The Peter Principle of Product Development


Improve your product...but not tooooo much.

This week I was talking to someone who works behind the scenes of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus. He told me a story about their former elephant trainer. When elephants, ahem, eliminate, they leave quite a large pile behind. The particular trainer of note was so skilled with the animals that he actually trained his elephants to poop before showtime. That way they wouldn’t do it in front of paying customers. Before going into the ring, he’d blow a whistle and instruct the lead elephant, India, to poop. When India went, all her fellow elephants did, too. He thereby improved the show by eliminating the eliminating, so to speak. Well, a few years went by and Ringling Brothers talked to some circus guests. Turns out they missed the elephant poop! Not only was it part of their expectation of the show, but the kids actually looked forward to it! As a result of this consumer research, the circus now allows elephants to let it out when and where they want.

This got me thinking.

A while ago, I wrote about constant product improvement. Is there a point at which products can be improved beyond the optimal—a sort of Peter Principle of Product Development? India the Elephant would indicate there is. You can “clean up” a show to the point where real, living, desirable elements are scrubbed right out of it. This same thing is true of consumer packaged goods.

A colleague told me an anecdote from the world of disposable diapers. As any grandmother can tell you, disposable diaper technology has come a long way from the first drippy Pampers with open leg holes and tape that didn’t stick. But apparently, today’s disposable, liquid-wicking diapers are so absorbent that kids can wet themselves a small pond before they get uncomfortable in them. The result of this is that today’s kids are harder to potty train! If they’re not uncomfortable in wet, sticky plastic diapers, what’s their motivation to get out of them and into big boy pants?

If you want a food example (and really, after the previous two, why in the world would you want to think about food?), all you have to do is buy a pork chop or pork loin. Efficient pork farmers have bred their pigs so lean that they no longer have any characteristic flavor! Hence the burgeoning business in fattier pigs with more flavor, like Kurobota.

Yes, keep improving your product. But do not improve it beyond its ultimate point of competence. That’s what I call The Peter Principle of Product Development. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle)

Posted: Tue - March 22, 2005 at 06:01 PM        

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