Herman Miller designed Mirra chair for disassembly before choosing materials
Herman Miller, with McDonough, designed the Mirra chair by first specifying how it would come apart, then choosing materials to fit that plan.
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3,236 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDHerman Miller tied every bonus to one visible ratio, not piece rates or profit-sharing
Herman Miller replaced piece rates with a single visible ratio of labor cost to sales value, sharing all savings from improvements with every employee.
Read the caseHyundai answered a tourist's coquí insult by making its rental cars beep the frog's call
Hyundai Puerto Rico replaced its rental cars' unlock beep with the coquí's call, so every lock repeats the frog in the offender's hand.
Read the caseIceland made companies prove equal pay, not employees
Iceland made companies with 25+ staff prove equal pay via audits or face daily fines, shifting burden from employees to employers.
Read the caseIETF broke the OSI-TCP/IP deadlock by counting running code
The IETF broke the OSI-TCP/IP deadlock by declaring that running code, not ballots, decides the standard.
Read the caseIKEA India's ads press 'skip' for you, proving organisation saves time
IKEA India ran six-second pre-rolls where a character presses 'Skip Ad' for you, turning the skip into proof that organising saves time.
Read the caseIKEA beat a supplier boycott by sourcing from Poland
When Sweden's furniture cartel boycotted IKEA, Kamprad sourced from Polish state factories that needed hard currency.
Read the caseAfghanistan turned vaccine records into charm bracelets
Afghanistan encoded vaccine records into charm bracelets mothers already tie on babies, so illiterate parents track shots by bead colors.
Read the caseIn-N-Out kept four items and won on quality
In-N-Out kept a four-item menu since 1948, reinvesting in supply chain to build loyalty.
Read the caseTimes of India printed front page in election ink to show absent voters
The Times of India printed its entire front page in electoral ink, materializing the abstainers' unmarked fingers as a wordless call to vote.
Read the caseUnédic pays performers' slow months from a bank of hours across all employers
France's Unédic pays performers' slow months by banking hours from any employer within a year, converting scattered gigs into continuous coverage.
Read the caseÍsafjörður painted a 3D crosswalk to slow speeding cars
Ísafjörður painted a 3D crosswalk that looks like floating blocks, making drivers brake on reflex instead of reading a sign.
Read the caseISRO reached Mars on a weak rocket by looping Earth seven times
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission used a weak PSLV rocket, looping Earth seven times to build up escape velocity incrementally.
Read the caseJacquard encoded silk patterns on cards for any operator
Jacquard encoded a master weaver's pattern into punched cards so any operator could reproduce it exactly.
Read the caseJCDecaux gave cities free bus shelters, funded by ads
JCDecaux gave cities free bus shelters, funding them by selling ad space on the shelters to advertisers.
Read the caseJetBlue wrote a bill of rights that automatically fined itself for its own delays
After stranding passengers for 11 hours, JetBlue published a bill of rights with automatic delay payouts that fired without any manager's approval.
Read the caseKerecis grafts cod skin onto human wounds because fish can't give people their diseases
Kerecis used cod skin for grafts because fish are too distant to transmit diseases to humans, avoiding harsh sterilization.
Read the caseKerala's chitty auctions its pot to reveal who needs cash most
Kerala's chitty auctions the monthly pot to the member bidding the biggest discount, making need visible without collateral.
Read the caseLEGO let fans design and vote new sets into production
LEGO let fans submit set designs and vote; only ideas with 10,000 votes got made, proving demand for free.
Read the caseNew York replaced payphones with free wifi kiosks and let advertisers pay the city
New York replaced obsolete payphones with free wifi kiosks by letting advertisers pay for them.
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