4
Edison organized the storage battery project convergent
set tasks. Yet
even more significantly, this approach indicates that Edison
had thoroughly routinized the innovation process. Proceeding this manner, Edison thoroughly
investigated several electrochemical combinations and
determined the one best suited his purposes. According one experimenter, the
O
storage battery probably required over 50,000 experiments. Gone were the
last vestiges the heroic myth invention which insight
. each experimenter Edison
assigned specific material arrangement, and the
experimenter then conducted long series standard
experiments until secured the best possible results. Rather than turning several imaginative muckers
loose the battery, had his team thoroughly investigate
each component the battery. Edison and his team
then moved the next component problem and attacked in
the same way. breaking
down the research into sequence small, standardized
experiments, Edison had shifted the creative act away from
mechanical ingenuity and careful observation being based
more persistence and careful record-keeping.
While this convergent approach produced highly reliable
results, came the price requiring huge number of
individual experiments. Furthermore, he
was able build the results one series experiments,
and thus converge ideal design for his battery. Edison
reviewed the results different chemists and chose the
material for that particular component
