Medical Innovation in the Corn Fields of Ohio

In rural Birmingham, OH, about 40 miles west of Cleveland, one of the world’s leaders in meat processing and food service is innovating in unexpected ways.  Bettcher Industries, founded in 1944 with $800 in a small machine shop in the Cleveland meat district, is innovating in very non-traditional markets and making an impact.

Bettcher’s history of growth lies in understanding and leveraging customers’ needs.  In the 1940’s, when meat companies didn’t have the money to buy new equipment because of the war their old machines were kept running by Louis Bettcher who made parts that couldn’t be replaced. Louis knew repairing these machines was temporary; the meat companies needed entirely new types of machines and systems, so he invented them!  Over time, Bettcher expanded the types of meat to be processed and added foodservice equipment.  Several of itsinventions have won global awards.  In addition to making meat processing more efficient, productive and safe, Bettcher ergonomically designed its equipment to minimize its customers’ employee injury and strain.  For Bettcher, a second generation family business, it’s customers’ employees are an extension of it’s own family of employees.  The strong family, compassionate culture, is palpable when you walk through Bettcher’s halls.

Even though Bettcher has successfully grown globally, it hasn’t rested on its laurels.  Bettcher has explored other markets to leverage their core competency in automating cutting operations and processes.   They realized their expertise and equipment was well suited for the medical industry.  For instance, the process to increase burn and wound healing includes removing the dead or decaying flesh in a way that leaves a smooth, evenly thick surface for grafts and healing.  Bettcher’s equipment dramatically improves the efficiency, quality and safety of these procedures over existing medical tools.  With Bettcher’s tools, the physician’s procedure time is reduced by 80%, which also reduces risk of infection and cost.  The design of the tools reduces the number of parts to be sterilized, reducing risk of cross-contamination and cost.   The tools also improve the quality of tissue and bone grafts.   And, given Bettcher’s emphasis on ergonomics, the design, material and efficiency of the tools reduces user injury. For the patient, the benefits are iterative since these procedures are repeated frequently:  shorter and easier procedures with less risk of infection, and hopefully less pain.

To commercialize the product line, Bettcher is collaborating with Community Tissue Services in Dayton, OH for additional testing and evaluation. Because of Bettcher’s collaborative culture, unique technology and job creation potential, they were granted $1MM by the Ohio Third Frontier to commercialize this new product line.  Who knew that in the farmland of Northeast Ohio, in an area dominated by corn and soy, tremendous advances in healing were being made?  You just may be surprised!

The Unusuals Innovate

As we near major #RCUS-making at BIF7, let’s move onward to U! You and U!  We’ve discussed Random Collisions, so its time to talk about Unusual.  (I do tend to think ‘differently’ - in paradoxes, oxymorons so bear with me.) Unusual created the image of a slinky in my mind: what we know greatly depends on whom we know which greatly depends on what we know which greatly depends on whom we know…iteratively in a potentially closed, yet expanding slinky spiral circle.

Therein lies the challenge! How do we expand our circle beyond the usual? How do we create intersecting circles? How do we even step out on the edge of the circle? Well, it’s not that different from how we put ourselves in situations to have Random Collisions.  Etymology first.  The word unusual is ‘not’ (un) in front of the word usual which comes from the late 13^th Century Old French usuel, from the Latin usualis meaning ordinary and usus meaning custom. Not a big surprise; no big revelations.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t help thinking of Capt. Renault ‘s (Claude Rains) classic line in Casablanca, “Round up the usual suspects.” (By the way, Casablanca is one of the most quoted movies of all time!)

When we think of unusual people, we think people who are a bit different, perhaps a tad bizarre, perhaps distinguished, eccentric – different from you and me.  We usually don’t expect to meet these types of people in our everyday lives and routines, but perhaps we could!  Since I live in Oberlin, Ohio – home of the eponymous college - it’s pretty easy to meet unusual people in my ‘routine’.  But I’d posit that meeting unusuals is not just an issue of physically colliding with them, but a mindset of looking at the unusual, atypical, unique aspects of people we already know, as well as new ones we meet.  Porter Gale, in a terrific post, talks about the impact of her serendipitous encounters in seat 4C.

In the past year, at least for me, it seems the velocity of serendipitous #RCUS’s is increasing.  You know when you’re looking to get a new car you start seeing that car all over but you didn’t before?  I wonder if we start becoming attuned to look for the unusual the more unusuals we meet!  In hindsight, as I look back at the many unusuals I’ve met over the past 18 months, the collisions don’t seem as much random as somehow ordained, even destined. There is a great word in Yiddish – Bashert (באַשערט) – destined, fated, meant to be. That defines most of my #RCUS’s over the past year or so.   And these #RCUS’s, while starting out on a professional plane quickly becomes multi-dimensional – adding depth and impact.  They have led to amazing clients, colleagues, collaborators, co-conspirators, co-creators and chums.

So, in this upcoming week, can you step to the edge of your circle to meet some unusual people? To discover something unusual in the usual people you meet?  Take Good’s 30-day challenge with me and let’s share meeting unusuals this week!

Colliding Towards Innovation

My previous post on serendipity and randomness has caused a #RCUS (Random Collisions of Unusual Suspects via Saul Kaplan)!  Many of you have commented, shared personal experiences of Random “happy accidents” and cited “serendipity” research.  Thank you!

Let’s look at the 2^nd letter – C: Collisions.  It originated in the early 15^th Century as the Middle Frenchcollision from the same period of Latin collisionen, “a dashing together”. The definitions imply a variety of outcomes: 1) the act or process of colliding; a crash or conflict; 2) Physics: a brief dynamic event consisting of the close approach of two or more particles, such as atoms, resulting in an abrupt change of momentum or exchange of energy [emphasis mine].  While the first definition is rather violent, and innovation can arise from major clashes and conflicts, the 2^nd definition is closer to type of Collision in #RCUS.

Think about the people you have met, collided into (virtually or literally), and the relationships and results – personal and professional.  Here are but a very few, examples:

• A friend of mine deliberately collided with a very cute guy on the NYC subway (not Random) and 25 yrs. later, they are still married with a kid going to college.
• Last year, I was on a flight, buried in my reading, as was the guy next to me.  For some serendipitous reason, we started chatting and now he’s a great client making a remarkable positive impact on his people.
• Through 3 different collisions, I collided with the creator of My Little PonyÒ.  Sid Good is a terrific guy, fellow alum, makes me laugh a lot and together we’re working on some interesting ways to transform our region (and he’s going to BIF7!).

What do these have in common? In each of these, the collision caused a big change of momentum, an exchange of energy to say the least.  Something ‘new’ came from each of these: relationships, kids, ways to work, corporate cultures, products, and ways to collaborate.  The sum of the parts is indeed greater than the parts. The Collision formed new ‘stuff’ – intangible and tangible.  It’s not just about running into someone and having a nice chat; it’s about running into someone that creates enough energy to create more energy and more collisions.  That’s what is so exciting and energizing.  When you meet someone and create something together, isn’t that just amazing? It’s almost hard to express how profound it can be. This has, blessedly, been the story of my life at many levels, so I’m a little enthusiastic.  The power of the collisions’ outcomes can create solutions to wicked problems, can change ghettos into urban neighborhoods, can transform a stagnant corporation into a living company, can create vaccines for horrid diseases, and can change just one life.

So, my usual question – what collisions have been transformative for you? How did they happen? What new ‘thing’ came from them? Where will your next collision come from? Please continue to share your Randoms and Collisions in the comments, on twitter, or to me!  #RCUS on!