Often innovation is being able to recognize clues that have been set before you. For instance, there was a milk store near Madison. Business was slow, so the owner expanded his hours from early morning to late at night.
Business improved. Then one day someone switched the price of milk. I don’t recall the exact numbers, but the price should have been 69 cents. It was marked 96 cents.
The owner was horrified, until he realized a simple truth. His sales did not decline. People would pay more for the convenience.
This simple idea – “people will pay for convenience” – was the basis for the convenience store industry.
Great innovators are also observant.
A few months ago, Jim Sorenson died. He was Utah’s wealthiest man. This modest and generous man was a detail man for the drug industry. When visiting doctors, he observed them. He listened and then created solutions. For example, he replaced unsanitary cloth surgical masks (like you see on M*A*S*H) with disposable paper ones. He developed the first real-time computerized heart monitoring system. He created the automatic intravenous drug pump.
None of these innovations were technologically complex, but they all filled a need.
The key in being innovative is to define the question that begs to be asked.
The cotton gin machine removed cotton from seeds. Before its invention, much labor was used to remove seeds from cotton – a subtle, but significant difference. The sewing machine merely reverses the thread from the eye of the needle to its point so that the bobbin can catch it. These are obvious solutions now, but not obvious before.
Innovators also need to look at problems in different ways. The Tellier Foundation has worked with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) in finding approaches to reduce the velocity of rain water draining into the deep water tunnel. The old “analysis” sought to increase the size of the tunnel. The new approach recognizes that it is not the deep tunnel’s capacity to store storm water that is the problem, but the rate of flow caused by flash floods. You can see this when you pour water into a funnel. When there is too much water, little goes through the funnel and it overflows. Thus, the use of swells in landscaping, water barrels, green roofs, and specially designed parking lots could reduce the speed that rain water is going into the sewer system and reduce flooding.
Looking for ideas. Check out sectors of the economy that could benefit from increases in productivity.
Two sectors that are obvious are education and medicine. Diagnostic equipment used by nurses could make internists more efficient and better. Computers to teach could improve the ability of students to learn better, especially for poor and minority children. The reason being is that computers have infinite patience and do not judge a child’s social, economic or racial status.
Another approach is to separate businesses between “winners” and “losers.” Food costs go up, so look for firms that supply seeds, fertilizer and machinery. Energy costs escalate, so look at alternative fuels that are cost effective and secure. You might even break down how we use energy. For example, 20 percent of our energy use goes for lighting, and there are new forms of lighting that can reduce energy use by more than half.
In the same respect, prairie grass has a better yield for ethanol than corn and can be grown on marginal land. Prairie grass does not compete for food, does not require fertilizer or a lot of water. But consider a new alternative fuel, algae. One acre of algae equals 50 acres of corn, and sewage can be used to grow it. My point is that we can do better for less. Innovation can occur when we look at better ways to solve problems.
Read widely and get out of your comfort level. For example, explore biomimetics. This is when you look at what fish, plants, birds, animal and insects do and try to mimic them. The most famous tool in this field was the invention of Velcro that George de Mestral created when cockleburs stuck on his dog. The April 2008 National Geographic has an article on biomimetics. Science News is also a great source of ideas.
Another great source is The Futurist that is published by the World Future Society (www.wfs.org). They have yearly meetings where a wide range of subjects are discussed.
Think about the question that needs to be asked. This often is the most difficult task to accomplish. Then search for solutions for these problems. Look at what is obvious to you, but understand that what is obvious to you, might not be for others. Then innovation will be second nature.
