Creativity, Innovation and Problem Solving
Creativity and Innovation consists of...
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SEEING what everyone else has seen,
THINKING what no one else has thought, and
DOING what no one else has dared!"
Innovative thinking is the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Whether you actually
invent a new product or process, or you use creativity to find a better way to market existing
products or services, you will need to learn how to think like an inventor.
START WITH THE CUSTOMER OR END USER
The customer is always your first and most important creative challenge. Listen! Try to see the
customers' problems and needs from his or her point of view. Restate the problem and the
customers' needs in their terms until a consensus is reached. Ask not only what the problems are,
but what special methods are presently used to solve them.
Work with the end user or customer. Use fictitious product descriptions to stimulate ideas and
discussion. Remember that effective market research and sales strategy requires just as much
creativity, enthusiasm and perfection as does product development.
IMPORTANCE OF ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
The problem as first stated is rarely the true problem. Ask at least five times. Always restate the
problem as many ways as you can; change the wording, take different viewpoints, try it in
graphical form. Describe the problem to laymen and also to experts in different fields.
Don't try to learn all the details before deciding on a first approach. Make the second assault on a
problem from a different direction. Transforming one problem into another or studying the
inverse problem often offers new insights. If you don't understand a problem try explaining it to
others and listening to yourself. Test the extremes. If you can't make it better, try making it
worse and analyzing what happens. Visualize a new way to solve your problem.
"Why are we so much better at answering questions than at answering the right questions? Is it
because we are trained at school and university to answer questions that others have asked? If so,
should we be trained to ask questions?" [Or trained to ask the complete set of right questions in
the right way?] Trevor Kletz (Analog Science Fiction, January 1994, p.195)
GETTING GOOD IDEAS FROM EVERYONE AND
EVERYWHERE
Asking once is rarely effective, you have to ask many times in many ways. Look at all possible
sources of good ideas: your customers, your competition, your peers, the literature, patents, and
your own subconscious. Give others some examples, this serves both to illustrate what you're
talking about and encourages them to suggest improvements to your ideas.
Tell them also what [you believe] you don't want and which solutions [you believe] won't work.
Remember that breakthrough innovations often come from the outside. Work with high
performers in fields related to your own to identify and adopt their relevant methods, tools and
"tricks of the trade". Trade ideas with all.
SEARCH FOR MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS
"Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one we have." The first solution
found is usually inadequate or not the optimum. There is usually more than one acceptable
solution. Suspend judgement and criticism when first collecting ideas. Studying multiple
problems jointly often generates unique solutions. Look for solutions using combinations of
ideas from different or evolving technologies. Even if you have one optimum solution it may be
necessary to get patent coverage for all other effective solutions so as to protect your market.
BRAINSTORMING
In the initial phase of a brainstorming session participants are encouraged to suggest any idea
that comes to their minds. During this initial phase it is a firm rule that none of the participants
can criticize or react negatively to any of the ideas that are proposed. Although a given idea may
not be new to some it will be new to others and provoke new ideas from the group as a whole.
The point is to think of as many new ideas within the group as possible and provoke everyone to
think creatively. Following sessions are used to critique the ideas; selecting, improving,
modifying, and combining them to produce the final working solution. Encourage examination
of the problem statement itself. Encourage ideas on improving the brainstorming process itself.
VALUE OF EXPERIMENTATION, PLAY,
EXAGGERATION; PERSISTENCE
Get your hands dirty. Spend some time trying things you "know won't work" or "don't know how
they will work". If you don't fail frequently you aren't trying hard enough and may be missing a
lot of good opportunities. Try Tom Peter's algorithm: "READY, FIRE, AIM." Persist, persist,
persist.
As Edison said "invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration [persistipation?]". Be very
stubborn about solving a problem, but be flexible about the definition of the true problem and be
very flexible and open minded about the form of the solution.
PATENT AND PROJECT NOTEBOOKS
Patent notebooks are used to provide legal protection for inventions, but can have many other
useful, complementary functions: a recorder, a reminder, a source of ideas, a means of ensuring
project continuity, and a way to communicate with yourself and within a project group. Clarity
and conformance to legal standards is critical. Other things that should be recorded: sources,
questions, what doesn't work, things to try. A one page summary sheet of the important
procedures and checkpoints should be included inside the front cover of every patent notebook
issued.
INNOVATIVE COST REDUCTION
Remember that the real objective is higher profits. Raising the selling price by adding value or
retargeting the market can be an alternative or supplement to cutting costs.
EFFECTIVE USE OF NOTES
Try file cards with text and graphics (diagrams, flow charts, block diagrams, elementary
circuits). Keep them simple and easy to change (use pencil or wipe-off transparencies for
overlay). Scramble the cards, lay them out together in different arrangements. Mark ideas and
questions in a way that makes them obvious to a reader and searchable by a computer.
Richard Feynman, also a Nobel Laureate physicist, believed in getting his hands dirty and doing
lots of experiments, saying "To develop working ideas efficiently, I try to fail as fast as I can".
Put Yourself in Their Shoes
This activity is designed to help you investigate how successful entrepreneurs used their thinking
skills to create a better idea than their competition.
Questions Questions Questions!!!
Questions that you ask yourself about your business are essential to creating new ideas that are
different from the existing way things are done. Questions provoke your mind to look for
answers and ideas. The answers may not pop up immediately but persistence in asking questions
and looking for answers is essential to creative answers and successful business ideas.
What are some of the questions you could ask if you want to become an entrepreneur?
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What do I know how to do?
How could it be done better?
Who might pay me to do it?
What if I made it smaller? or a whole host of ?what if? possibilities
What do the customers want?
How is the industry changing?
What customers are not being served?
YOUR ASSIGNMENT – 20 points
There is no limit to the questions that can provoke a great creative idea. In this activity you will
find a story of an entrepreneur and:
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Give a biography of the person and accomplishments
List personal characteristics they have that have made them a successful entrepreneur
Think of the questions this entrepreneur must have asked in order to come up with the
idea that made his/her business successful
Should be no less than 1 page single spaced
Research an entrepreneur that no one sitting around you is already researching
Prepare a brief summary about your entrepreneur to share with the class that includes
notable achievements, what they created and other interesting facts.
1. Alvin Ailey - Dance (Alvin Ailey) Dance Theater
2. Mary Kay - Ash Cosmetics (Mary Kay)
3. P.T. Barnum - Entertainment (Barnum & Bailey)
4. Warren Bechtel - Construction
5. Jeff Bezos - Internet (Amazon)
6. Michael Bloomberg - Financial Information
7. Richard Branson - Several (Virgin)
8. Andrew Carnegie - Steel (US Steel)
9. Steve Case - Internet (America Online)
10. Jim Clark - Internet (Netscape)
11. Michael Dell - Computers (Dell Computer)
12. Walt Disney – Entertainment
13. Larry Ellison - Software (Oracle)
14. Debbi Fields - Cookies (Mrs. Fields)
15. Donald and Doris Fisher - Clothing (Gap Inc.)
16. Ernest & Julio Gallo
17. Bill Gates - Software (Microsoft)
18. A. P. Giannini - Banking (Bank of America)
19. Walt Goodridge - Writer
20. Leo Goodwin - Insurance (GEICO)
21. Barry Gordy - Music (Motown Records)
22. Joyce Hall - Greeting Cards (Hallmark)
23. William Randolph Hearst - Publishing (Hearst Newspapers)
24. Richard A. Henson – Airlines
25. Fernando Hernandez - Telecommunications (AT&T)
26. Milton Hershey – Chocolate
27. James J. Hill - Railroads (Great Northern Railway)
28. Wayne Huizenga - Sanitation (Waste Management)
29. Steve Jobs - Computers (Apple)
30. Robert L. Johnson - Broadcasting (BET)
31. John Johnson - Publishing (Ebony)
32. Henry J. Kaiser - Health Care (Kaiser Permanente)
33. Herb Kelleher - Airlines (Southwest)
34. Ray Kroc - Fast Food (McDonald's)
35. Estee Lauder - Cosmetics
36. William Levitt
37. Henry Luce - Publishing (Time/Life)
38. J. W. Marriott - Hospitality
39. Louis B. Mayer - Entertainment (MGM)
40. William McGowan - Telecommunications (MCI)
41. Scott McNealy - Computers (Sun Microsystems)
42. Judi Sheppard Missett - Fitness (Jazzercise)
43. Gordon Moore - Electronics (Intel)
44. Andrew Morrison - Web Publishing
45. Rupert Murdoch - Media
46. Pierre Omidyar - Internet (Ebay)
47. David Packard - Electronics (Hewlett-Packard)
48. William S. Paley - Broadcasting (CBS)
49. Ross Perot - Data Management (Electronic Data Systems)
50. Jay Pritzker - Hospitality (Hyatt)
51. Ralph Roberts - Cable TV (Comcast)
52. John D. Rockefeller - Oil (Standard Oil)
53. Carlos Santana
54. David Sarnoff Broadcasting (NBC)
55. Howard Schultz - Coffee (Starbucks)
56. Charles Schwab - Discount Brokerage
57. Richard W. Sears - Mail Order (Sears-Roebuck)
58. Russell Simmons - Music (Def Jam Records)
59. Fred Smith - Shipping (Federal Express)
60. Charles C. Spaulding - Insurance
61. Gloria Steinem - Publishing (Ms)
62. Martha Stewart - Multimedia
63. Dave Thomas - Fast Food (Wendy's)
64. Donald Trump - Real Estate
65. Ted Turner - Broadcasting (CNN)
66. Madam C. J. Walker - Hair Care
67. Sam Walton - Discount Retail (Wal-Mart)
68. Thomas Watson, Sr. - Computing (IBM)
69. Oprah Winfrey – TV
70. Mal Emery - Australian Mailorder Millionaire