''Attack Conventional Wisdom
with Profound Knowledge."
I know I know it is now called the "International North American Auto Show."
However, around my neck of the woods it is still called the "Detroit Auto Show."
You can see some of the "creative" new car concepts at http://www4.naias.com/.
Perhaps what I should say is ...
"What was creative before is creative again"
The big hit this year is the Chevrolet Camaro Concept. Not to be out done by Ford, GM brought back the Mustang's big rival the Camaro.
It surely did cause a buzz on day one of the auto show.
While the Camaro is not new let us hope the performance and styling is creative enough to excite the thousands of previous Camaro owners to buy this new/old car.
Jeep did the big entrance. After breaking out of a cage (think King Kong) and appearing onstage, the all-new 2007 Jeep Wrangler drove offstage, through the auto show display area, into the Cobo Center lobby and smashed through the front window.
The all-new Wrangler driven by Chrysler Group CEO Tom LaSorda (no not LA Dodger Tommy) climbed down a flight of Cobo Center stairs, proceeded up Washington Avenue and scaled the outdoor stairs at Detroit's Pontchartrain Hotel, before confidently climbing Jeep Mountain.
This spectacle, which lasted just under 15 minutes, cost Chrysler more than $500,000 to produce - not including a cost of up to $300,000 each for the pair of hand-built Jeep prototypes used during the presentation.
The event required a team of 80 people, including Chrysler's own designers and engineers, staff members at ClearBlue Communications, the event-planning company Chrysler uses for its presentations, and various lighting and pyrotechnic specialists.
But, I do remember a similar stunt back in the early 1990s when ...
Chrysler appeared to be getting more out of the show than the other domestic giants. The corporation hit page one in 1992 when its president, Bob Lutz, “crashed” a Jeep Grand Cherokee into Cobo Center and shattered through what looked exactly like plate glass. His passenger was the late Detroit mayor, Coleman Young. Actually the real pane was removed and substituted with special glass used by Hollywood for such stunts.
mmm,
Somehow I get this feeling that the United States when it comes to being technical and being creative is trying to be more like the Asian countries. Plus the United States is on a one-road mission to show the world through "standardized" test scores in science and math that we can be the smartest and the most creative. These tests can only test what you have learned NOT what you know (big difference).
Standardization is key when it comes to methods and process control. However, it should come "after" a new product or service has been created and it should not be the driving force for creativity. If we continue this path to prove ourselves by tests scores we are all going to fail.
The behind the scenes extraordinary shows put on by the auto manufactures are not done by scientists and mathematicians. The majority of the creativity comes from thinkers and innovators in music, marketing, art, design, dance and drama. They learned their skills from the extra curricular courses that are labeled second class because they can't be measured by a "standardized" test.
I'm telling you we are altering the balance of education in this country and it is going to drive an eletist group of standardized thinkers that does not include the working class or people not smart enough in a few classes (math & science) to succeed in life.
If you do some global research on education, particularly in the Asian countries you will find less emphasis on trying to pass standardized tests and more focus on creativity and innovation. I don't believe we are as bad in education as we think, nor are we as good as we need to be to continue to lead the world in creativity and innovation.
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