Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen’s Quest to Invent a New World
From Publishers Weekly
When, in 1999, journalist Kemper started following the efforts of Dean Kamen to invent a new type of transportation device, he could hardly have known the story would turn out to be at once enormous and tiny. Kamen, inventor of the Uber-hyped Segway (a two-wheeled scooter with an impressive self-balancing system), was already wealthy from earlier inventions (e.g., portable dialysis machines, drug-infusion pumps) when he set his boutique engineering firm to …
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January 6th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
In 1999, Dean Kamen called journalist Steve Kemper and invited him to chronicle the development of a new invention, “the biggest thing I’ve ever done.” Kemper bit, and the result is this gem of a book.
You may have heard of Dean Kamen as the archetypical American inventor, whose ideas made him a millionaire in his twenties, but who wears his uniform of a denim shirt, jeans and boots everywhere, from the workshop to the Oval Office to the boardroom. Or you may have seen the Dateline story on the revolutionary wheelchair (It climbs stairs! It rears up and balances on two wheels!) his company is even now jumping through FDA approval hoops. Or maybe you know a high-school kid competing in the FIRST robot-building team competition that is another of Kamen’s brainchildren.
I loved this book, for a lot of reasons. First, it’s unflinchingly honest. This is no worshipful paen to Kamen and the Segway, It is a balanced (pardon the pun) look at the inventor, his company, and the engineering and business behind the creation of the Segway, warts and all. Kemper writes an even-handed account, but the way he cares about his subjects shines through the entire book.
The author respects Kamen’s genius, creativity, and sheer chutzpah, but also shines a merciless light on his many shortcomings. And Kamen IS likeable, and every bit the visionary wunderkind that the media paints. But reading how his team sometimes suffered in the Great Man’s shadow made me squirm.
Although he professes to be neither an engineer nor a business guy, Kemper captures the spirit and creativity of engineering art AND business. He explores the sometimes-twisted and sometimes-sublime group dynamics that manifest when a group of people are pushing the technical envelope. He accurately describes both the “Eureka!” moments and the bone-numbing tedium necessary to turn a great idea into a complex, working whole.
Finally, the book is a great look inside the twenty-first century dream lab that is DEKA Research. The author gives tantalizing glimpses of the other on-going projects along with Project Ginger. And I pretty much drooled over the descriptions of Kamen’s house. [...]
January 7th, 2010 at 1:24 am
If Edison or Ford had allowed us a peak inside their laboratories, what would it have been like? Clearly visiting one of the various museums dedicated to them does not do justice to the events that went on there. While Dean Kamen?s legacy is not yet assured to be within this group, we fortunately will have a chronology.
Kemper has captured the mystique of the engineering marvel in a book that reads more like a novel than a traditional business book. The various, frank participant comments that he recorded allow us to gain insight into the engineering and management challenges that Segway has overcome.
Many within the startup and capital space suggest that every founder should be cognizant of when it is time to step down and allow others to run more of the show, and Kemper paints Kamen as no exception to this. The book illustrates how Kamen?s micro-management may have caused the project to take longer and cost more than it may have needed to. It also shows how Kamen?s belief in Ginger along with his charm and salesmanship may be what ended up making Segway a success in the end.
The book?s only shortfall comes from Kemper?s expulsion just prior to the Segway?s announcement and launch. Due to his loss of access to the project?s participants at this point, we are prevented from hearing reflections and thus being able to evaluate the success of the project?s culture and management style. Hopefully others from the Segway team will choose to codify their commentary on their experience at some point.
Code Name Ginger will allow you to understand what goes on from idea to creation. It would be difficult not to be drawn in to the engineer?s & manager?s struggle to overcome obstacles to bring the Segway to fruition. It is a look inside the whirlwind ?