Episode 129 • Making Progress

Slowly but surely
You win some, you lose some
Go in circles
Come a long way
Sooner or later
Story
Roger: Dude, I just had the best idea for a product that could literally change people’s lives!
Phil: Again?! Oh, man. I don’t know if I can go through this again.
Roger: No, listen to me. This time is different!
Phil: You said the exact same thing the last four times! I don’t think we’re meant to be inventors.
Roger: Of course, we’re meant to be inventors. You said so yourself!
Phil: Yeah, I said that once to you when we were 7 and I was going through this phase in which I was obsessed with Leonardo Da Vinci!
Roger: Still, I think we’re getting better… Don’t you think?! I mean, we’re definitely making progress, slowly but surely, I mean… we have more ideas, our prototypes are getting better…
Phil: That’s what we think. But then everybody seems to think our products suck!
Roger: Oh well, you win some, you lose some. It’s part of life.
Phil: Yeah, only we’ve never won anything, you know?
Roger: I’m telling you. You’re going to love this idea! Just listen to me!
Phil: No, you listen to me. We’re going in circles. We’ve been doing the same thing over and over for what? A year. I think it’s time we start looking for a real job or something.
Roger: You don’t see it, do you?! We’ve come such a long way since we started this project. Remember the first prototype we built?
Phil: The Banana Master?
Roger: Yes, the machine that could take any fruit and shape it into a banana?
Phil: What a stupid idea!
Roger: Agreed! But you see, at least now we look back and we can see how stupid that idea was! You can’t say we haven’t made progress! We just need to keep going and sooner or later we’ll think of something amazing! And that day, my friend, might very well be today.
Phil: Alright, fine. What is this amazing idea that’s going to change people’s lives?
Roger: Okay, ready? You know how sometimes you’re packing your lunch and maybe for lunch you’re having, uhm, I don’t know, peas but also steak?
Phil: Steak?
Roger: Yeah, steak, I don’t know. Well, in that case you would have to pack both a fork and a spoon. Well, not anymore, not if you have a Foroon?
Phil: A Foroon?
Roger: Yeah, it’s part fork and part spoon! A Fornoon!
Phil: Oh, you mean a spork!
Roger: A spork? What the heck is a spork?
Phil: It’s a tool that’s part spoon and part fork. It already exists. I have one. It’s great. Super useful.
Roger: Oh, man!
Phil: Hey, don’t go away… Look at the bright side… At least this time it was a good idea!