Reinventing the wheel

If I had a peso for every time I’ve heard the line, "No need to reinvent the wheel," I’d be a rich man by now. Most of the time, a boss will say this to emphasize the need to go back to basics, to go back to the proven system of the company, especially in cases where the company has lost focus and has found itself engaged in other things or doing things differently. The boss wants to remind his people, "Hey, guys, we already had the formula of success before so there’s ‘no need to reinvent the wheel.’ No need to change how things are done because the system already works." And a wheel is indeed a wonderful metaphor for this message. The concept and rationale of the wheel will always be the same. No one can argue that we should change the wheel’s shape or remove the axle from the center and put it in another area of the wheel. The wheel works, period. No question about that.

While this is sound advice, it is not a surefire way to make a business grow. In fact, for the biggest companies in the world, their business philosophy is the exact opposite: Never be contented with the wheel. You have to reinvent it. That’s what I learned when I recently attended the launch of the latest BMW 5 Series in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

An Are-You-Kidding-Me? Opportunity

Lito German – the dashing, hardworking, and always amiable corporate communications manager of BMW Philippines, called and asked me, "Hey, Rod, would you like to go to Malaysia to cover the launch of the new BMW 5 Series?" I replied, "Are you kidding me??? Absolutely! Where do I sign?" That night, I packed my luggage and got ready. Even if the trip was three weeks away.

Anyway, the day finally came. I went to the airport with my wife Teemy who decided to tag along and do some Malaysian ukay-ukay shopping. BMW actually got me a business class ticket. (Note: BMW never travels economy because it simply is not consistent with its image – how about that?) But when Teemy decided to come along, I had two choices: (1) either I buy her a business class ticket (which costs an arm, a leg, and a chunk of my future inheritance), or (2) I buy her an economy ticket and have myself downgraded to economy so I can be with her. She told me, "Hon, why didn’t you take the business class ticket?" I told her, "Because, honey, I don’t think it’s right that I’m in business and you’re in economy." She replied with a snicker, "Well, how about me getting the business class ticket and you taking the economy? Tee-hee." So much for chivalry.

Upon arrival in KL (together with the other members of the Philippine media contingent, Philip Cu-Unjieng of Bare Magazine, Jun Ventura of Mabuhay, and Dino "the Stud" Directo of Manila Standard), I was a bit surprised why the van that was picking us up was not a BMW but a competitive brand. So I asked Lito about it. And he said, "Now, you will taste hell – later and tomorrow, you will experience heaven!" Good one, Lito!

Lito was absolutely right. From the time, we reached the glitzy Mandarin Hotel, it was heaven all the way. We checked in at the executive floor (and not at the lobby) and we were given the best rooms in the hotel. After a quick shower, we (the international press contingent) were given a tour of the Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest buildings. This is where Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones ran around in the movie Entrapment. We went to the famous bridgeway connecting the two buildings. Thereafter, we had cocktails in one of the rooms and there, we had the chance to meet a real prince – Prince Leopold von Bayern, Prince of Bavaria (where Munich, the home of BMW, is located).

Prince Leopold – or "Poldy" to his friends (and, ahem, I am now one of them) – is BMW’s brand ambassador. He is an accomplished racecar driver and has driven in almost every kind of motor race except for Formula 1. He travels the world to speak on behalf of BMW. Talk about a dream job, huh? Plus, he’s royalty, too. Some guys have all the luck.

Poldy wanted to be in the same dinner table with us at the Petroleum Club – but he was led to the table of the chairman of BMW instead. The Petroleum Club is on the top floor of the Petronas Tower and is reserved only for "VVIPs." So for that brief moment, I really felt important. The view was breathtaking, to say the least. The food was also breathtaking – because it came an hour and a half late – so we almost lost our breath waiting for it. But nevertheless, it was a fantastic experience. During dinner, the "gods" of BMW gave a speech and welcomed all of us. Personally, I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I wanted to stay there the whole night.

The next day, we were brought to the Sepang Formula 1 racetrack via a police-escorted motorcade. We were herded in pairs and each pair was assigned one BMW 5 Series and a chauffeur. I thought to myself, "This is the life, man!" The trip to Sepang was around an hour but it was a pleasant, traffic-free, pothole-free, and sampaguita-vendor-free ride. At that point, I said to myself, "Boy, we are so far behind Malaysia in terms of infrastructure!" It was a sad realization – but it’s a fact. We’re falling by the wayside and our Asian neighbors are moving forward. Sigh.

Anyway, when we got there, I was completely awed by the size of the stadium. It was huge, and I started imagining how it was like when the Formula 1 Circuit was in progress. After a quick briefing, we were led to an open area near the track. Here, the BMW engineers demonstrated to us how BMW is literally "reinventing the wheel" everyday. They explained to us two new features: the Active Steering and the Dynamic Drive features.

In the first road test, we were each given a BMW and we tested the new Active Steering feature of the new 5 Series. Active Steering is a modified version of power steering. As you know, with simple power steering, it is easier to turn the steering wheel even when the car is idle or at low speeds – as opposed to pawis steering which requires you to cross your arms when you turn the wheel and you are forced to exert all your energy just to turn the wheel by a few inches. I used to think power steering was a breakthrough. And personally, I didn’t think it could still be improved. But BMW did just that. I didn’t notice it before, but one disadvantage of power steering is that when you are at high speeds, the slightest movement you do on the steering wheel will shake up the whole car, because power steering makes the steering wheel sensitive. And that could be a potentially fatal problem because all it takes is for a cat to suddenly cross your path and your slightest reaction could make the car turn sharply. And sharp sudden turns are bad news at top speed.

The Active Steering feature of the new BMW adjusts to your speed. If you are slow, it allows you to steer easily, from left to right. And when you are traveling at high speeds, it automatically adjusts the "sensitivity" of the steering wheel so that your car doesn’t swerve sharply even if there is some movement on the steering wheel. Talk about intelligent car!

The Dynamic Drive feature, on the other hand, adjusts the "side to side" rolling of the car when you do quick turns from left to right. Notice when you make sharp turns, your car sort of leans on one side and then when you turn, it shifts its weight to the other side. With the new BMW 5 Series, the chassis has stabilizers that minimize – in fact, almost get rid of – the rolling and swinging from side to side. The car remains firmly in place, even during sharp right-to-left turns, effectively defying the law of physics. When I tried it in the slalom as I was weaving around the cones, I noticed my stomach (and my lunch) swinging from side to side – but the car remained stable. It was an almost eerie experience.

In the afternoon, each of us was given a chance to ride in a 5 Series with Prince Poldy at the wheel, and we took one spin around the racetrack. I asked him casually, "Could I take a video?" He answered, "Well, if you could hold on to it, sure!" So I braced myself and held my video cam tightly. He then stepped on the gas, and all of a sudden, the world around me became one big blur. I dropped my video cam and the next thing I knew, I was being revived with smelling salts, and they were vacuuming the car upholstery and cleaning Prince Poldy’s smeared racing jumpsuit. But boy, what a ride!

Bmw And The ‘Reinventing The Wheel’ Philosophy

If there’s anything I learned from this trip, it’s this: There’s always a way to improve things. And there’s always room to improve oneself. BMW is the epitome of that philosophy. BMW is not prestigious because it produces luxury cars. It’s prestigious because the people there work harder than anyone else in the industry. To them, quality is not a one-time thing. It’s a daily process. They do not simply come up with good cars and then bask in their financial success. They take pains in trying to come up with cars that are better than the ones in the past. They simply do not settle for mediocrity. And this shows in the way they do business. You see it in the products they produce, the way they treat people, and the innovations they come up with.

We Filipinos could learn a lot from BMW. We should remove our "Puwede na ‘yan" mentality and incessantly pursue excellence. After all, nothing is worth doing unless you do it in the best way possible.

BMW has shown us the way. All we have to do is follow.

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Thanks for all your letters. You may e-mail at rodnepo@yahoo.com.