Organizational Behavior

Sir James Dyson: Learning to Achieve Success

James Dyson, knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 2006, rose to success and fame via an unusual and challenging path. Dyson’s life journey is one based on a desire to solve problems, learn from mistakes, and to persevere and excel.

His father’s death in 1956 when he was nine years old had a profound impact on Dyson’s future. Dyson says, “[n]ot having a father, particularly at that time, was very unusual. I felt different. I was on my own. I can’t quite explain it, but I think subconsciously I felt a need to prove myself.”1 When Dyson entered the work world, his first boss, Jeremy Fry, also had a profound influence on his development. Dyson recalls, “[w]hen I went to work for him, I’d never designed a product. I’d never sold anything. And he put me in charge of a company manufacturing a high-speed land- ing craft. So, he taught me that someone doesn’t have to grow into a job. If you allow them to make mistakes, they’ll learn extremely quickly. He also taught me to mistrust experience. He was far happier to have people working around him who had freshness and an unsul- lied approach.”2

In the late 19705, Dyson began developing a vac- uum cleaner based on the belief that “people actually wanted to see the dirt that they were collecting.”3 In recalling the beginning of this venture, Dyson ob- served, “I started with an idea: a vacuum with no bag. The bag was a problem. The bag clogs with dust, the machine wheezes, losing its puff. So, inspired by an industrial cyclone at a timber mill, I created a vacuum that used centrifugal force to separate the dust and dirt. No bag, no clogging, no loss of suction. It didn’t look great, but it worked. After five years of testing, tweaking, fist banging, cursing, and more than 5,000 mistakes—or prototypes, as engineers call them—it was there.”4

Over the ensuing 15-year period, Dyson produced 5,127 prototypes of his Dual CycloneTM bagless vacuum cleaner before developing the model that would make him a billionaire; Dyson persevered in spite of the mis- takes, disappointments, and frustrations, conditions that might have caused many other people to give up.

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Dyson attributes his perseverance against the oddS to an important childhood realization. Quoted on the company’s Web site, Dyson recalls: “I wanted to give up almost every day. But one of the things I did when I was young was long distance running, from a mile up to ten miles. They wouldn’t let me run more than ten miles at school—in those days they thought you’d drop down dead or something. And I was quite good at it, not because I was physically good but because I had more determination. I learned determination from it.” Dyson continues: “A lot of people give up when the world seems to be against them, but that’s the point when you should push a little harder. I use the analogy of running a race. It seems as though you can’t ca try on, but if you just get through the pain barrier, you’ll see the end and be okay. Often, just around the corner is where the solu- tion will happen.”6

Regarding the Dyson vacuum’s dirt collection system, Dyson recalls, “[e]veryone said that the clear bin would repulse people. By that point, I’d stopped listening to ev- eryone and went with my instinct. I’m particularly adept at making mistakes—it’s a necessity as an engineer. Each iteration of the vacuum came about because of a mis- take I needed to fix. What’s important is that I didn’t stop at the first failure, the 50th, or the 5,000th. I never will. Believing that big companies would choose good technology—progress—over short—term profit was a big mistake. I love mistakes.”7

Dyson tried to interest existing manufacturers of vac- uum cleaners in his invention, but with no success. So, he pursued manufacturing the Dyson vacuum cleaner on his own. Although the venture nearly b’ankrupted him,8 he persevered. Within 18 months, the Dual Cyclone bagICSS model became the number one selling vacuum cleaner in the United Kingdom9 and now sells more than four times as many vacuums in the UK than does its closest competitor. ‘0

Jennifer Harris, writing in Management Today, Pon’ ders why the so-called experts—like the established vacuum cleaner manufacturers that refused to produce

3 ' u -_DY50n S machine~are sometimes loathe to innova tion. Her answer is that these “experts” have become 50

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successful that “they start to see success as their right, 3. What advice do you think James Dyson would give rather than a privilege earned continuously through to a recent college graduate who is just starting his/ hard work and fresh thinking.”11 Sir james Dyson, the her career? contrarian, became expert and successful through hard 4. What advice do you think James Dyson would give work and fresh thinking. to someone would is in charge of training people

and evaluating their performance?Udécussion Questions- SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Man- agement, College of Business, Valparaiso University.

1. Why is the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes crucial to learning?

2. How can the opportunity or freedom to make mistakes contribute to performance improvement?