Innovation

The purpose of the online learning is for you to develop your own learning. There are a number of tasks that you should complete before you undertake the next section.  You can work through this section at your own pace.  It is expected that you would take up to 3 hours to complete this section.  You must complete this section before you move to the next section.

 

Task 1

Open the presentation “Trigger Points”.  Listen to the commentary.  You will need to make some notes for the next task.

This presentation will help you understand the factors that initiate innovative behaviour

 

Task 2

Read the article “Trigger Points”. Answer the questions and record your answer in your work book.

This article and activity will help you understand the factors that initiate innovative behaviour.

 

Trigger Points

There are many events and occasions that trigger innovations.  However, there are other factors that impact on innovation.  One factor is that all of the parts need to be in the right place at the right time.  The notion that creativity is a remix is also a factor here.  In the previous presentation we mentioned a number of innovations that are the result of trigger points, but they are also the result of both everything being in the right place and a remix of existing items.

Velcro (the correct name is hook and loop fastener, not Velcro.  Velcro is the proprietary name of the came about through curiosity; followed by the remix of existing items.  Taking the hooks that existed on the seed pods of the Burdock plant and replicating them in nylon and taking the soft fur of a dog and replicating it in the form of a soft fur also made of nylon, George de Mestral the inventor of Velcro created the fastener we now widely use.  Even though it took years before it was adopted widely.

Richard Branson disrupted the music industry through a desire to become wealthy.  He expressed this desire from a very young age.   He realised that records were overpriced and by finding ways to exploit the market agreements that restricted sales.  He then set-up his own record label and signed bands that were controversial or risky.

Looking at the list below, try and identify other innovations that have emerged as a result of the listed trigger points.  Choose three trigger points and explain how they contributed to the innovation.  You should use the internet and other sources to identify the innovations.

• Shortages
• Unsolved problems
• Specific needs
• Underutilised resource
• Curiosity
• Wealth generation

 Write your answers in your workbook.

 

Task 3

Open the presentation “Pattern Recognition 1 ” and listen to the commentary and complete the task in your workbook.

This presentation introduces the notion of pattern recognition

 

Task 4

Open the presentation “Pattern Recognition 2 ” and listen to the commentary

This presentation explores the notion of pattern and develops a deeper understanding.

 

Task 5

Watch the video “Where good ideas come from”. You will need to make some notes for the next task.

This video explores the concept of how ideas emerge and the effect the environment has on generating ideas

 

Task 6

Read the article “Where good ideas come from”.  Then answer the questions in your workbook.

This article develops a deeper understanding of where good ideas come from

Where do good ideas come from?

One of the key points in this video is the notion of patterns, the idea of connections between thoughts and actions and the consequences of those thoughts and actions.  However, there are external factors that play into the notion of generating ideas.  Ideas are not random thoughts that pop into our heads even if it feels like that sometimes.  We know this because the thoughts we have are always around events and issues that affect our lives.  We have what we think are lightbulb moments but they are the result of the incubation of thoughts that we are completely unware of. 

Johnson in the video argues that ideas need a space, and environment within which that can develop.  He talks about how the original coffee shops in England in the 17^th Century became those environments; an environment where the ideas people were having were shared and led to a period of amazing innovation.  This is another critical factor in the development of innovation, the opportunity to share ideas and develop them through the input of others.  It is the networks you build with others than contributes to the generation of ideas.  This fits with the myth of the lonely innovator.  In the video Johnson recounts some research that shows how the best breakthrough ideas occurred during discussions where people shared information.

But simply talking about ideas are not enough there needs to be a purpose to the idea.  In the video Johnson talks about the development of the satellite navigation we used to get around.  It was the need to track submarines that led to the development of an idea into a useful tool.  History is littered with examples of need driving innovation.  Religion and war are two particular needs that have contributed to innovations. It was the emergence of the need to pray at certain times of the day that led to the development of clocks and watches.  We saw earlier how shortages of rubber caused by the First World War contributed to the development of plastics.

 

Task 7

Watch the video “Generating ideas”. Then answer the questions in your workbook.

This video introduces some of the more commonly known techniques for generating ideas

 

Task 8

Watch the video “Brainstorming”.

This video explores the tool brainstorming and offers a critique around the value of brainstorming

 

Task 9

Read the article “Brainstorming ” and then answer the questions in your workbook

This article explores the tool brainstorming in more detail and gives you the opportunity to critique the tool

Brainstorming

In the video Generating Ideas we mentioned that brainstorming has been criticised for its actual value as an ideas generating process. The video you have just watched identifies some of the issues that have arisen. The argument in the video is that the one critical factor is not to criticise, along with the notion that all ideas are good ideas. Lehrer suggests that we are in fact robust enough to be criticised and that in fact debate and discussion can lead to a wider range of ideas. Some of the comments about the Brainstorming video are that the speaker Lehrer does not fully understand brainstorming. To enhance your understanding go online and look up brainstorming and read two or three web sites. Mindtools is a good start. After reading a bit more about brainstorming what criticisms do you now have about brainstorming? Do you agree with Lehrer or do you think he has misunderstood brainstorming? Write your answer in the workbook.

Reflecting back on the list of methods to generate ideas which do you think are the most effective?  On a piece of paper write the list and then go online and read about the different tools. Complete the table below.  Rank each toll according to your preference as the most effective and relevant to you.

Ranking	Idea Generation Tool	What I like about this tool	What I dislike about this tool
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Looking at the top two answer the question in the workbook.

 

Task 10

Read the article “Experimenting ” and then answer the question in your workbook.

This article explores the tool experimenting in more detail and gives you the opportunity to critique the tool.

 

Experimenting

We often confuse experimenting with scientist undertaking activities in a laboratory in order to discover some new chemical of physical phenomena.  This is certainly on aspect of solving problems but most experiments probably don’t take place in a laboratory.  In the video Generating Ideas we mentioned how Post-it notes emerged.  But there is more to the story.  There I no doubt the glue emerged from experiments in a laboratory, never the less some of the experiments in finding a use for it took place outside of a laboratory.  It was Arthur Fry who discovered the current use for post-it notes when he discovered he could use the notes as markers in his hymn book.

Listerine, the most widely known mouthwash also went through some experimentation, but not in quite the same way as post-it notes.  In an effort to try and find a mass market for the product it has been offered for sale as an antiseptic, a floor cleaner and a cure for a sexually transmitted disease.  All of these attempts to sell the product were essentially types of experiments.  Eventually it was sold as a mouthwash, but is still need one more element to help it sell.  So it was marketed as a cure for halitosis.  Halitosis or bad breath wasn’t actually something people worried about too much at the time, but clever advertising turn it into a problem and Listerine too off.  In this case the experiments were around identifying a market that the product could be sold in.

You need to go on line and find a product or service that is the result of extensive experimentation outside of the laboratory.  In the workbook you need to write a brief synopsis of the product and how experimentation was used to develop the product.

 

Task 11

Quick quiz 

 

You should undertake further reading on the topics in this section.  We recommend that you read the following:

• Michanek, J. & Breiler, A. (2014) The Idea Agent, The Handbook on Creative Processes, New York: Routledge
• Crawford, R., P. (1964). The Techniques of Creative Thinking: How to Use your Idea
• to Achieve Success. Virginia, USA: Fraser Publishing Co.

 

The next section is Unit 2 SDL 1