Turning “Impossible” into Innovation
A few years ago, I worked with a growing software company that struggled to deliver features on time. Deadlines were slipping, and teams were frustrated.
When I asked developers what was causing the delays, they pointed to endless bug fixes that took precedence over new features.
One senior developer told me, “We know where the bugs come from, but it’s impossible to stop them—tight timelines don’t allow us to focus on quality up front.”
This reminded me of Shigeo Shingo’s timeless wisdom:
“It’s the easiest thing in the world to argue logically that something is impossible. Much more difficult is to ask how something might be accomplished.”
Everyone can come up with a thousand reasons why something won’t work. But the question we should ask instead would be: “What needs to happen to make it work?”
Shingo’s principles are as relevant to software development as they are to manufacturing. Instead of accepting problems as inevitable, he challenged teams to rethink their processes and eliminate issues at the source.
Applying this mindset to the software team, we implemented automated testing and continuous integration (CI).
While it required initial effort, these changes reduced bugs significantly by catching issues earlier in development.
Teams were empowered to focus on building new features, and morale improved as they delivered higher-quality software on time.
- Ask “How Might We?”: When faced with recurring issues, ask your team to brainstorm ways to solve them permanently, even if the solution initially seems challenging.
- Adopt Automation: Automate tasks prone to human error, like testing or code reviews, to catch defects early and streamline workflows.
- Build Quality into the Process: Use practices like pair programming, code linting, or CI/CD pipelines to ensure problems are addressed as they arise, not after release.
The takeaway? Stop accepting “impossible” as the answer.
With the right mindset and tools, you can transform recurring issues into opportunities for innovation.
Have you ever turned an “impossible” challenge into a win? If so, share your story with me—I’d love to hear it!
