James Dyson’s secret to success? Listen to complaints

When we think of inventors, our minds often jump to the big names and world-changing creations. Thomas Edison, whose light bulb illuminated the path to modern electricity. Or the anonymous genius behind the wheel — a simple yet revolutionary idea that set civilisation in motion. These are the breakthroughs that shaped modern society and the way we live today.

With modern technology woven into almost every moment of our lives, improvements feel routine. Expected, even, often without much thought to the minds behind them. We assume innovation is inevitable. But without inventors and engineers like Sir James Dyson, much of it wouldn’t exist. He’s the man who has made my hairstyling routine effortless, and the same man who cleans the air of my home.

And now with the launch of the Dyson PencilVac™, he’s continued to revolutionised the way I clean my home. Which is, under half an hour, without touching a single stray hair, and most importantly, without breaking a sweat.

Meet the world’s slimmest vacuum – the Dyson PencilVac™

At just 1.8kg and 38mm in diameter, the Dyson PencilVac™ is the world’s slimmest vacuum, and already super light in comparison to the power the motor produces. It’s also Dyson’s most manoeuvrable vacuum, allowing the user to clean backwards, sideways and in awkward corners. 

And the best bit? The fluffy cones and ejection system, which meant no more awkwardly sticking your hand in to clean out stray hair or compressed dirt. Something that I had to do occasionally with the V12.

I was already obsessed with the V12, as further exemplified in my review here. The V12 was a special one, as it marked the start of my Dyson journey. But with the PencilVac™ around, was the V12 now obsolete? And for someone who created an empire solving problems, was Sir James Dyson worried that he created this one in his quest for automation and perfection?

I posed the question that had been seared in my mind during a rare sit-down interview with the inventor himself. After all, changing the world is one thing — but when you’re also a business owner whose sustainability relies on the sale of products, isn’t he worried he’s effectively reduced the value of his earlier inventions?

“Of course [I’m worried]. But that’s good,” he says.

“You don’t invent something new just to make money. You do it because you want to. And if it makes the old one obsolete, that’s okay. You’re moving on.”

Even if that means risking sales of his other products?

“Now, commercially, people don’t like that. Even people inside the company might not like it, because the old one is still selling really well. But we’ve got to move forward. That’s just how it is.”

99 problems, but the PencilVac™ ain’t one

For someone who’s built an empire on solving problems, how does he decide which ones to tackle next?

The answer, like most of Sir James’ answers, is deceptively simple and to the point. Very quickly, I get the sense that he is a man who says only what’s necessary, with no over-justification — a confidence that comes from being certain of his company’s values and his ideas.

“I love complaints. Complaints give you ideas.”

In a world where we are constantly told to block out the noise, ignore the haters, Sir James’ has decided to do the opposite. The PencilVac™ was born from exactly that: people complained about long hair getting tangled around the bar, so he decided to fix it. It’s the same thinking that led him to add filters to vacuums, make them bagless, and later, hoseless.

But in the pursuit of perfection, does Dyson know when to stop? Innovation, after all, is an endless process. His answer, once again, feels obvious to him. Like art, there comes a point where you simply have to release your creation into the world.

“The thing to know about engineers and scientists is that they’re never satisfied. If you left it to them, they’d never release a product because they’d just go on improving it and changing it,” Dyson muses.

“So, you have to have a goal. When you meet the goal, you put it into production. But you’re often leapfrogging. You’ve got this [points to the PencilVac™] that you’ve set out to produce, but halfway through, you have another idea, so you start developing that. Then maybe something else comes along. It’s a progression. But we keep our engineers — and myself — under control. Because when you’re doing something, you might discover a better way. That’s great, but it mustn’t stop you from bringing out the one you’ve committed to developing.”

A legacy built on values

With so much emphasis on solving problems, I posed my final question, inspired by the simplicity and directness of many of his answers: Is new always better?

“Hmm,” he ponders for a moment. “Not always. But things change, and we have to try to improve them, even if we don’t always succeed.”

He offers an example: “Is a modern chair better than an old chair? Actually, yes. You may prefer the look of an old one, but a modern one ought to be more comfortable, easier to move, more functional. You couldn’t do what I’m doing,” he says, leaning back, “in a wooden chair from the past. So yes, I think most new things are an improvement.

“If they weren’t, they wouldn’t sell.”

In the end, Sir James’ drive isn’t just about novelty or profit — it’s about progress. Moving forward, solving problems, and improving lives, one invention at a time.