Sixty-two-year old James Dyson is unlike others who can be classified simply as inventors and creators. He is not too wrapped up in this to forget the company’s bottom line and this is reflected in his considerable corporate success. Dyson, who graduated in interior design, has spent the last 40 years inventing one thing or another and has been very successful integrating and translating his ideas into corporate profits.
Hailing from the south west of England, this maverick has not been afraid to make controversial business decisions along the way as he strives to convert ideas into sales. For example, in the early 2000s he shifted a large number of jobs away from a production line in England to a much more economical location in Malaysia. Bristling from the negative press, Dyson was mostly vindicated shortly thereafter when his company more than doubled its pretax profits.
At his business locations, Dyson encourages innovation. He has gone out of his way to create the perfect environment for this to flourish. The average age of his employees is just 26 and he is always on the lookout for eager young graduates. He believes that the best ideas come from “getting your hands dirty” and is always ready to mix it up, by moving employees from position to position and department to department, putting them in an environment where they are motivated to innovate. Dyson actively encourages people to think outside of the box.
Whilst he has every respect for computers and the design options that they offer, he believes that everybody is a development engineer and that really good engineers draw by hand first and use rudimentary materials to create initial prototypes. He firmly believes that it is better to make a mistake and learn from them, rather than by having a surfeit of information that you do not need. Dyson’s research and development department is involved in producing radically new products, at a huge risk. He instills this tension into his engineers and believes that his final products are much better for it.
Dyson is not afraid to get involved in the political arena either. He has strong views about government funding and tax relief, arguing that money allocated to higher education would be better redirected to small companies and innovators such as his. Tax relief should be increased, to stimulate money spent in development.
As the inventor of a highly successful range of vacuum cleaners, James Dyson has been able to combine business savvy with cutting edge innovation to best effect.
Adam Toren
