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until-you-make-it-work side. I am much more in incredible piece of technology — literally an ana-
awe of people like Galileo, Newton, and Einstein log computer, a summing machine. It is a great
than I am of the tinkerers who just kept working piece of technology except for one thing: it is
with the tools and technology of their day until well documented in history that the Chinese had
they got something to work. I am just in awe of knowledge of lodestone [iron] well before they
those people. I wish I was one of them, but it’s were building these chariots. They knew that if
not in the cards. So I work hard to succeed at the they took a little piece of lodestone and put it on
other end of the scale. a cork in a bowl of water, it would always float to
the same side of the bowl. Today, we call this a
compass, but they were building these hugely
complicated chariots to tell them which way they
were going, rather than using something simple
Yes. Engineers are taught to think and work in and elegant like a compass. So when we evaluate
a risk-averse way: let’s avoid making mistakes, possible approaches to a technical challenge at
let’s only do what has been documented to work, DEKA, the engineers each have a passion to use
let’s play it safe. Well that’s great, but it will never their area of expertise to create a solution. I’ll
result in significant innovation. So I try to get my look at these solutions and ask, “It’s great, but
team to try things that aren’t likely to be success- is it a south-pointing chariot?” Meaning: are we
ful — i.e., to kiss a lot of frogs. The princess went reveling in a particular technology that we love,
out and took a chance. She kissed a frog. Most or did we really apply the best available technol-
of the time when you kiss a frog, you end up with ogy to solve the real problem?
warts. But every once in a while, you kiss a frog So one year, the gift that they made me was
and you get a prince or princess. It is OK to get a beautifully crafted, stainless-steel-geared
warts. It is OK to fail. You laugh at it, learn from south-pointing chariot. I pulled it around and
it, and move on. And then, every once in a while, the pointer always pointed in the same direc-
you’ll kiss a frog and get an iBOT, or a Segway, or tion. It was a marvel to watch. Then they told me,
a dialysis machine. And that’s a big deal. “Dean, go squeeze that little jack-in-the-box on
the pointer.” I did, and out popped a doll of Albert
I understand that some of your engineers built Einstein with a compass pinned to his chest.
you a replica of a Chinese south-pointing chariot And they said, “Dean, we want you to know that
as a gift. What is the story behind that? we really do listen to you. And though we love
technology, we really do try to separate our love

This relates to what you call “frog kissing” in your research and development?

Every year the people at DEKA secretly go off and for the technology from the objective of bringing build a spectacular holiday gift for me. And since the best solution to the problem.” DEKA’s goal

I have an incredibly talented team of engineers is not to build monuments to engineering. Our and designers, and an extraordinary machine goal is to bring the best available solution to shop that can literally make anything, they come solve important problems. We use the lesson of up with some truly amazing things. the south-pointing chariot to help us keep our

Well, everyone at DEKA has heard me talk perspective. more than once about an ancient Chinese invention called the south-pointing chariot. Imagine you have a two-wheeled chariot drawn by horse. South-pointing chariot built by DEKA

Each wheel of the chariot is connected to a engineers and given to Kamen as a Christ- differential, both of which turn a central shaft a mas present. It bears a placard that reads, variable amount as the chariot turns. A pointer “In Case You Ever Lose Your Sense of is connected to the central shaft. The gears are Direction. From the Technology Zealots of configured to turn the central shaft so that the DEKA. Christmas, 1996.” pointer always ends up pointing the same way as if you had gone straight. So you could look at the _{pointer and pull yourself back on course. It is an} >>