James Dyson designed and started manufacturing ventilators in under 10 days

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 3 April 2020

UPDATED: 3 April 2020

Dyson has received an order from the UK government for 10,000 ventilators to support the NHS to treat coronavirus patients.

CoVent - the new ventilator from Dyson

Dyson is best known for its vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, said the ventilators would be ready by early April

James Dyson said the company had designed and built an entirely new ventilator, called the CoVent, since he received a call 10 days ago from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Ventilators made by Dyson and other suppliers will need to meet regulatory requirements before being used by the National Health Service.

James Dyson, the company's founder, confirmed the order in a letter to his employees "This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently and at volume," Dyson added, saying that the new ventilator has been designed to "address the specific needs" of coronavirus patients.

Amazing things happen when you focus on what you can do!

How to focus on your business positively, when all you can think about is will I have a business after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here's three simple steps to get you focused:

Step 1 - What do you need to do?

Just answer this one question, write a list, make it a minimum of 20, so you can't stop until you have at least 20 things on it you need to do within your business. But don't limit yourself to a maximum number - the key is, when you're in the zone and thinking of the different things, just get them down and move on.

Once you have the list, pick the most important thing listed and move to step 2. If you like to be organised, you might be tempted to prioritise the whole list, there are pros and cons to this - I'd rather get on to Step 2, as what happens here may add things to the list created in Step 1, or remove things as your thinking evolves.

Step 2 - How could you possibly do this?

You've picked the 'thing' which you've identified as the most important. Now you need to focus all your thinking on what is possible (do not limit your thinking by listing a couple of things, just like Step 1, get the thoughts down and move on). Keep in the zone, capture all the possibilities. Once you have an extensive list of 'how's' - no matter how far fetched they may be - you can prioritise and filter them.

Step 3 - Who could possibly manage this?

Most business owners think they need to be the driver of ideas in their business, and this will be a self-limiting belief, if you don't involve others. So develop the brief, rework your Step 2 'hows' into questions. See The PM asked for 250k NHS volunteers and over 750k volunteers are recruited in days article.

Here I've related the '3 Steps' process to how the Government could have applied it, to achieve this amazing achievement.

How could you apply this kind of thinking to enhance your business during this crisis?

While it’s natural for stressful events to overwhelm us, especially if your business is one of the many impacted negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also possible to refocus on work, because you will never have another opportunity like this.

The pandemic will certainly end, and we’ll return to a new normal, what will that possibly look like for your business, your customers and employees?

In the meantime, what can you possibly do to use this time productively?

How could you change what you do now to achieve future productivity gains? One thing's for sure, there will never be another time when the world stops for months, so use this time wisely.

Time to re-assess, re-tool, and get ready to reboot!

Now is the time for businesses to map their processes and optimise how things work. Develop and document training plans, maintenance routines and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). Then use any quiet time experienced to upskill your people, products and services to create a tangible positive difference to your proposition.

Steve Megson, founder of Love Business and Managing Director of Quiet Storm Solutions

COVID-19 Business Support Hub

< Back