Why do I want to fit Principles into SCAMPER approaches? In a recent post (check it here first) I explore how SCAMPER can embrace the 40 Principles of Inventive Problem Solving. The goal is to wrap the complexity of the Principles in the approachability of SCAMPER. Substitute defined in Applied Imagination Under the category of…
Your problem has already been solved “Every problem has a solution.” The Cigarette Smoking Man, X-Files Both SCAMPER and the 40 Principles begin with the premise that with sufficient abstraction the problem you face can be described in a way that parallels another problem that has already been solved, making the solution evident. This post attempts…
Alan Mulally was a leader at aircraft manufacturer Boeing before he joined Ford as CEO in 2006. While at Boeing, Mulally was involved in the development of several aircraft. He lead the design of the 757/767 cockpit which was one of the first “all glass” aircraft, meaning it relied on screens rather than physical gauges.…
Safe The American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that air bags saved 8,369 lives between 1987 and 2001. Unfortunately, the same technology is having a negative impact on hearing. Seventeen percent of car occupants adjacent to airbag deployments suffer hearing loss, according to a study by Richard Price, a hearing specialist and consultant. And sound To…
Amazon is a dominant player now, but its birth was plagued with doubt and financial weakness, reveals the book The Everything Store by Brad Stone. Amazon started as an online book seller, and this was a canny move by Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder. Books were true commodities – all the same, no question of whether…
Ivan Chermayeff (1932-2017) designed some of the most widely recognized and admired logos in corporate America. including Mobil, PBS and National Geographic. This 2015 interview offers a rare glimpse into Mr. Chermayeff’s design process. I make collages. I have many many collages. I do them almost every day. I work on them in between my…
I recently had lunch with a former colleague. In the past, her work had required our services and so we had frequent contact. I recall some on my team bristling at her ambitions which frequently meant outsized demands on my department. “Who does she think she is?” was the tone of the complaints. Now her…
Analogy leads to innovation “Almost all innovation happens by making connections between fields that other people don’t realize.” Robert Lang Robert Lang is a physicist who developed software to create intricate origami. Analogous techniques are being used for other purposes like improving airbag design. Thinking about something that works under one context and how to…
Divide and conquer? Saturn was a division of car manufacturer General Motors (then alongside today’s survivors like Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac) that was started in 1985 as a semi-autonomous company with its own models, designs, dealer network and manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. This was a bold move, because at the time GM was…
Silverado frame rails General Motors uses hydroforming to produce frame rails for its vehicles including the Silverado pickup and the aluminum pieces found in the Corvette. This process makes stronger, lighter and to more accurate dimensions than typical welded multi-piece components. In tube hydroforming, pressure is applied with hydraulic fluid inside a tube that is…