Innovation Flow

Henri Poincare Poincare is considered as one of the great geniuses of all time and there are two very significant sources which study his thought processes. One is a lecture which Poincaré gave to l'Institute Général Psychologique in Paris in 1908 entitled  Mathematical invention  in which he looked at his own thought processes which led to his major mathematical discoveries. The other is the book  by Toulouse who was the director of the Psychology Laboratory of l'École des Hautes Études in Paris. Although published in 1910 the book recounts conversations with Poincaré and tests on him which Toulouse carried out in 1897. Poincaré read widely, beginning with popular science writings and progressing to more advanced texts. His memory was remarkable and he retained much from all the texts he read but not in the manner of learning by rote, rather by linking the ideas he was assimilating particularly in a visual way. His ability to visualise what he heard proved part...

The Genius of Tesla  Nikola Tesla  ( 1856 – 1943) was an all time great Inventor and Futurist . He was an important contributor to the use of  c ommercial electricity , and is best known for developing the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system (Wikipedia). Marco Tempest gave an excellent TED Talk recently on Nikola Tesla http://www.ted.com/talks/marco_tempest_the_electric_rise_and_fall_of_nikola_tesla.html If you wish to know more about Tesla -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcZKPk-ZvdM  -  video on Tesla ( Vitaly Pravdivcev's russian documentary  with english subtitles) Also look at "Why Nilkola Tesla is the greatest Geek who ever lived" at  http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla What I would like to focus on is his extraordinary capability for visual thinking Tesla's Visual Thinking Much has been made over Tesla's amazing ability to visualize images from his mind. Tesla's visions were so ...

The magical thing about 10 x is that it instantly moves us away from incremental thinking and dares us to think out-of-the-box. We are made to ask questions that we would have never asked before. What should we do to sell our product at 10 x the present price ? To answer this question, we need to understand why folks buy our product - what do they perceive as the value offered by this product - how can we enhance this perceived value ten fold ? What do the Customers buy this product for ? When will they be ready to pay 10 x more price willingly ? Coffee in the ordinary hotels in Bangalore is not more than Rs 10. A cup of coffee at Coffee Day costs ~ Rs 50 - let us understand why Customers are ready to 5 x higher price - are they paying for the coffee or for something else ? CCD - A lot can happen over coffee - CCD is seen more as a "fun" place where youngsters come in groups and have a good time chatting over coffee. It is a hangout zone for youth an...

Reinvent The Toilet Challenge http://www.gatesfoundation.org/watersanitationhygiene/Documents/wsh-strategy-overview.pdf There is a need for developing cost-effective ways of neutralizing human waste - the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announce d    ~ $42 million program to promote safe, affordable sanitation in developing countries (2011). The effort will include research and tech development funding "to spur innovations in the capture and storage of waste, as well as its processing into reusable energy, fertilizer, and fresh water," according the group's press release. The centerpiece of the project, under the umbrella of sanitation science and technology, is what's succinctly called the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge." The foundation has awarded eight grants, totaling $3 million, to universities, to spur the "concept development, design, and prototyping of a waterless, hygienic toilet that costs less than $0.05 per user pe...

Unilever's 4D Model Unilever is  using breakthrough technology to get bigger and better innovations into the market faster through its unique 4D Model. The four Ds are Definition - Discovery - Design - Deployment  The Definition of opportunity for brands from great science and technology  The Discovery of the advances that will drive sustainable differentiation  The Design of great products that build great brands  Robust Deployment to the Regions Reference -  http://www.unilever.com/images/ir_1.5_hpc_randd-tech_tcm13-86711.pdf Open Innovation Open Innovation & Technology Scouting  -  www.fdin.org.uk/.../Open%20 Innovation %20 Innovation %202010/ How does one realise Open Innovation capabilities and opportunities?  A model created by  Gene Slowinski  is used by Unilever and many other companies. - WANT – define company needs (strategy, objectives) - FIND ...

Recent Research reveals Meditation induces a cognitive control state that promotes divergent thinking - Lorenza Colzato, Leiden University in Frontiers of Cognition Importance of Divergent Thinking in Creative Problem Solving http://www4.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/creativ/divergentthink.htm  - Williams, F.E Creative production is often characterized by the divergent nature of human thought and action. Divergence is usually indicated by the ability to generate many, or more complex or complicated, ideas from one idea or from simple ideas or triggers. Traditionally the eight elements below are ones commonly thought of as inherent elements of creative production, as well as attributes associated with creative problem solving abilities. Fluency  - The ability to generate a  number of ideas  so that there is an increase of possible solutions or related products. Flexibility - The ability to produce different  categories or perceptio...

Here we look at the four basic element of creative thinking  A - Alternative thinking B - Beyond thinking C - Convergent thinking and D - Divergent thinking The ABCD of Creative Thinking A - Alternative Thinking as a problem analysis technique -  Look at the problem through a different lens - What is the problem that you wish to solve - How would a 4 year old kid look at this problem - How would Walt Disney or Steve Jobs look at this problem, How would Mahatma Gandhi look at this problem - I created a powerful deck of 108 triggers for looking at a problem through different lens (on 27 August, 2011) - I have been using it at all my Innovation workshops - we get many good ideas and it is very popular.  I will be sharing this deck in my blog posts. Solve Tough Problem by using Lenses -  http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/05/09/solve-tough-problems-by-using-lenses/ B - Beyond Thinking is also a problem defining techn...