Motivational management.
Let me tell you a fairy tale.
The Ford engineers have designed an engine which will conservatively do 40mpg city. They're busy building their new line of vehicles which have this engine in and meanwhile, Ford management have been down to the Chevy showroom downtown. Chevy has introduced a truck which has awesome LED tail lights and the Ford management's eyes light up. They run back to the shop floor - "Guys! Stop working on the 40mpg engine! Chevy has these cool LED tail lights! We must put them on our trucks right now or we'll never sell another one!" So the engineers down tools on the 40mpg engine and start redesigning their trucks to accept LED tail lights. Skip forwards a week, and the Ford management are down at the Nissan showroom. They see a dinky hydraulic cup holder in the new Nissan truck. They run back to the Ford shop floor - "Guys! Stop working on that LED tail light thing - Nissan have hydraulic cup holders! If we don't put these in our truck right now, we'll never sell another one!". So the engineers stop working on the LED tail lights and start work on a hydraulic cup holder.
Skip forward a week, and the Ford management are down at the Subaru showroom. They see a radical electrically operated running board and run back to the Ford shop floor. "Guys! Stop working on that hydraulic cup holder! Subaru have these electrically retracting running boards. We must have those on our truck right now or we'll never sell another one!" So the engineers stop working on the hydraulic cup holder and start on the electric running board. Skip forwards another week and the Ford management are on the lot at the Honda showroom. They see the locking trunk in the Ridgeline and run back to the Ford shop floor. "Guys! Stop working on that electric running board. Honda have a lockable trunk IN their truck bed. We must have this feature in our truck right now or we'll never sell another one. And guys! What the fuck happened to that 40mpg engine you promised would be ready today?"
The Ford engineers have designed an engine which will conservatively do 40mpg city. They're busy building their new line of vehicles which have this engine in and meanwhile, Ford management have been down to the Chevy showroom downtown. Chevy has introduced a truck which has awesome LED tail lights and the Ford management's eyes light up. They run back to the shop floor - "Guys! Stop working on the 40mpg engine! Chevy has these cool LED tail lights! We must put them on our trucks right now or we'll never sell another one!" So the engineers down tools on the 40mpg engine and start redesigning their trucks to accept LED tail lights. Skip forwards a week, and the Ford management are down at the Nissan showroom. They see a dinky hydraulic cup holder in the new Nissan truck. They run back to the Ford shop floor - "Guys! Stop working on that LED tail light thing - Nissan have hydraulic cup holders! If we don't put these in our truck right now, we'll never sell another one!". So the engineers stop working on the LED tail lights and start work on a hydraulic cup holder.
Skip forward a week, and the Ford management are down at the Subaru showroom. They see a radical electrically operated running board and run back to the Ford shop floor. "Guys! Stop working on that hydraulic cup holder! Subaru have these electrically retracting running boards. We must have those on our truck right now or we'll never sell another one!" So the engineers stop working on the hydraulic cup holder and start on the electric running board. Skip forwards another week and the Ford management are on the lot at the Honda showroom. They see the locking trunk in the Ridgeline and run back to the Ford shop floor. "Guys! Stop working on that electric running board. Honda have a lockable trunk IN their truck bed. We must have this feature in our truck right now or we'll never sell another one. And guys! What the fuck happened to that 40mpg engine you promised would be ready today?"
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