A Doctor Death Moment

I helped invent a new drink. I was on a business trip with a co-worker named Laura, and the flight attendant asked us what we'd like to drink. Here's how the conversation went:

Attendant: What would you like to drink?
Laura: Cranberry ...
Dave: Dr Pepper.
Laura: ... and vodka.

Laura wanted a Sea Breeze (cranberry and vodka), and I wanted Dr Pepper, but since we interrupted each other, the flight attendant got confused.

Attendant: You want cranberry, Dr Pepper and vodka?!
Dave: Huh?
Laura: Uh, sure, I'll have one. One third of each.
Dave: Make that two.

So the recipe for Doctor Death is one-third cranberry, one-third Dr Pepper and one-third vodka. It's better than you might expect. The sourness of the cranberry cuts the sweetness of the Dr Pepper, and together they hide the alcohol, giving the drink a dangerous kick, like a Long Island Iced Tea. Hence the "death" in the name. We named it after we'd each had two more. For what it's worth, I usually use Diet Dr Pepper, but I doubt that makes much difference—maybe cuts the sweetness a little.

The Doctor Death story is my favorite metaphor for innovation, because it neatly captures something that I've seen so often in engineering brainstorming meetings. Here's the key question:

Who invented the Doctor Death?

I guess you could say it was Laura and I, because we requested it, even though we didn't intend to. Or maybe it was the flight attendant when she repeated back what she thought she had heard, even though she got it wrong. Or perhaps the magic point of invention was when Laura decided to go with the flow and try this new drink, even though the whole thing was a mistake. Or maybe it was when I ratified her choice by ordering the second Doctor Death in the history of the world. In the end, I conclude that it was a group effort. None of the individuals involved would have come up with this on their own.

Back to the engineering brainstorming meeting: A group of people are working to solve a problem, and together they invent a new solution, but if you try to determine who actually "made the invention," it's impossible. One person suggests a solution that isn't quite right, but another person mishears it and repeats it back slightly modified, and the first person says, "That's not what I meant," but a third person says, "You know, that could work!"

In cases like this, there is no use fighting over credit. The result truly is a team effort that can only occur when people are comfortable enough to throw out half-baked ideas and open enough to hear a possible solution even in a mistake or a misinterpretation.

I've seen this many, many times and now I have a name for it: "Hey, a Doctor Death moment!"