PRODUCTIVE INOVATIVE ENGINE (PIE)


        Home  |  About  | PIE Blogs |   FAQs  |  Resources  |  Contact   


FAQs  (See PIE Blogs for more information.)

  • What is an Entrepreneural PIE Team?
    • It is a team that wear the following hats with objective to create new products, services or processes:
      • Business Hat (Entrepreneur)
      • Customer Hat (Marketplace)
      • Technologist Hat (Production/Service/Processes)
      • Engineer Hat (Design & Development)
      • Scientist Hat (Research)
      • Logistics Hat (Global Supply Chain)
    • This is discussed in more detail at http://www.bcswonline.com/PIE/index.html and in blogs http://www.bcswonline.com/blog/index.html. The Kauffman Foundation indicates "Micro firms (firms with one to four employees) accounted for a large percentage of new jobs in any given year—about 20 percent on average."  Since the concept of PIE Teams is the genesis of a startup, this is a proactive way to help the job issue in our current economy.

      Return to Top
  • How will they create Jobs?
  • How many people are required for a PIE Team?
    • There are six primary hats in the PIE Team, but a person could wear more than one hat.  A small team of 2-3 people could be the initial PIE Team with responsibility for all the functional hats.  They may draw on others outside of the Team to perform specialized functions where expertise is required; eg. Engineering, Research, Technology, but someone on the PIE Team is responsibility for managing the outsourced functional hat.
       
      Return to Top
  • Where are PIE Teams planted?
    • The initial concept is to plant PIE Teams in Schools and Jobless Networks, but could also be used internally within large firms to create new products and services, such as the Lockeed "Skunk Works" Teams that conceived and developed the stealth technology.
       
      Return to Top
  • Will the PIE Team concept work for a single individual?
    • The PIE Team Functional Hats can be very useful for an individual in creating a new product or piece of work.  The School Senior Project requires research, development, production and presentation stages which are in line with the PIE Team functional Hats.

      Also, one or two individuals may have the idea for a new business and then as the various hat functions are required the complete PIE Team comes into play.

      Return to Top
  • What makes PIE Teams similar to "Skunk Works"?
    • When I was describing the PIE Team concept to an individual, his reaction was that sounds like the "Skunk Works".  I then read the book and conclude that they had PIE Teams in the Skunk Works.

      Return to Top
  • Why is there a survey?
    • The survey's purpose is to determine understanding of the PIE Team concept and determine if there is sufficient interest to create a PIE Team Challenge.
       
      Return to Top