Prior Action is one of the 40 Inventive Principles of Problem Solving.
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. Rearrange defined in Applied Imagination Under the category of…
Too many bricks Les Terrasses de la Chaudière is a complex of government office buildings built in 1978 on the Quebec side of the Ottawa river across from Canada’s capital. One of my favourite engineering courses at Carleton University was taught by a project manager on the Chaudière project. Unfortunately I don’t remember his name,…
“The refrigeration system makes one end cold and and one end warm.” Dave Pearson, Star Refrigeration This Youtube interview reveals some innovative thinking going into more renewable heating options for Scottish homes. The air conditioning systems we are familiar with in North America typically pump heat out of the building into the ambient air, so…
All In All You’re Just Another Brick Laying System Bricky is a system that makes accurate DIY construction of walls easy. A template lets you put down a consistent layer of mortar for each course of bricks as well as the vertical strip of mortar between each brick. By investing in the creation of a…
The musket: “Brown Bess” The British Army’s Land Pattern Musket, nicknamed the “Brown Bess” was a smoothbore muzzle-loader. Smoothbore Smoothbore refers to the finish of the inside of the barrel of the musket. A smooth bore does not impart any rotational forces to the fired projectile. Muzzle-loader Loading a musket was an involved process. First,…
The problem I live in the fashionable SoFo (south of Fortinos) neighborhood of Maple, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Prominent in the local news is the Toronto School Board’s decision to suspend over 5,000 elementary students with incomplete immunization records. For as long as I have been a parent (13 years) the standard method for…
W. Edwards Deming is a giant figure in the realm of quality management. In the aftermath of the second world war, Japanese companies turned to Deming, an industrial expert, for his input on creating top quality products. These same companies, including Toyota and Sony, rebuilt the Japanese economy and became global competitors, besting many American…
“When I finish with my cereal, I put the bowl away with the spoon in it. Why go to a separate drawer to get a spoon every morning? I’m going to need it, leave it there. How often am I going to use that bowl and not need the spoon that goes with it? I’ll…
“Each year in the U.S. there are over 1,500 incidents of surgical sponges being left inside patients after surgery resulting in deterioration of the health of the patients or even their deaths.” Zinovy Royzen In his article “Solving a Hundred Year Old Problem“, Zinovy Royzen outlines efforts that have been made to ensure that surgical…
Keeping things in perspective Two point perspective drawing uses lines to create the illusion of space on a flat surface. It’s a fascinating process well described in this YouTube video. The technique involves imposing a horizon line with two vanishing points on it. When drawing horizontal elements, either the left or the right vanishing point…