As a leader in technological machine tool innovation, Makino has adopted a philosophy that requires prompt development and continued application enhancements. This is done in order to meet the speed-to-market demand of its customers, as they need flexible manufacturing capabilities in order to create the prototypes that allow them to quickly react to the marketplace. And, this is particularly true in the aerospace marketplace.

In Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate, author Michael Schrage asserts, "Serious play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation." The book's core theory is that true innovation depends on improvisation, a behavioral interaction with prototypes, rather than a merely philosophical debate of ideas. The pace of Serious Play picks up with a discussion of mental models versus externalized, concrete representations.

Schrage hypothesizes that the only actionable idea is one that is represented by prototype. The value of prototyping is in the behavior that it sparks. Serious Play is replete with real-world examples that illustrate the author's points. Schrage cites Boeing, whose 777 jet was the result of ideas shared and innovations made possible by CATIA, a super- sophisticated computer-aided-design program. The 777 was virtually built in CATIA prior to prototyping, which in turn allowed for the resolution of design conflicts at an earlier phase of development. The CATIA system became a communication device that led to engineering collaborations that may not otherwise have happened, taking Boeing from a "silo" design environment to a more efficient, highly innovative one.

One valuable asset to prototyping is the introspection it generates within an organization or marketplace. Studying the behaviors that result from prototyping can help raise bigger questions. In Serious Play, Schrage explores the culture of prototyping, concluding that successful companies will be willing to use models to challenge widely held company beliefs and address issues considered taboo within the organization.

Serious Play advocates "relentless prototyping"—generating the most models in the least time—as opposed to trying for one perfect model. How we "play" with models, Schrage argues, is as essential to the learning process as the models themselves. And as important as how we interact with models is how we measure them. Schrage contends that speed- to-market isn't as much a determinant of success in rapid innovation as is the customer's own mean-time-to-payback.

Serious Play has the potential to help readers expand their thinking and utilize simulation and prototyping in exciting new ways. And, for companies such as Makino, it gives verification to speed-to-market activities being in the best interest of the manufacturer and the customer.

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