Breakthrough!

8

Parameters and Process

PAUL WAS one of the four inventors of Hasbro’s brand Transformers. The product was developed in Japan and had been launched in the United States under the name Diachron. It was initially advertised in tabletop demonstrations by a spokesman who turned the cars into robots and back into cars. They were three-dimensional puzzles for the kiddies. The product launch was an immediate and forgettable failure.

A couple of years later, Hasbro was presented with the opportunity to reconsider the product line for the U.S. marketplace. There were 14 products available: 6 cars, 1 truck, 6 planes, and a gun—all of which could be manipulated to turn into robots. That was the hand they were dealt. Those were the parameters. How do you ...