What does the future hold for the UK’s small businesses? According to a new report by HSBC, innovation, high-tech manufacturing, collaboration and overseas trade are likely to reshape our economy and drive recovery over the next few years.
Read more here.
Also see the book "Made in Britain".
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Room for innovation in engineeering?
Is there room for really pushing the boundaries in engineering? There's a reason I think there might be. I mean : new materials and/or new power sources. Even new methods of propulsion. And how to make things cheaper. Resulting in : great new machines, at little expense. Science fiction today.
We need first to understand that most of what was discovered is by chance. Few predicted something would work. Esp. in materials. So mix things, see what combination works.
Notice anything strange, no matter how small. Look at electricity. Just a small spark was produced at first, this could have been ignored.
The question is: have all combinations been tried? All leads followed up?
I'm thinking of going back to Edison's method of mass experimentation. This time taking it way further. Machines that automate the mixing process, to try and create new materials. On a massive, production line scale. A factory as big as a modern car plant. All for trying new combinations, as cheaply and efficiently as possible.
Bang things, shake things, mix things, heat things, etc. etc. all in different order, and repeating some of them. Then automatically measuring the properties. How hard, how strong, how elastic, how heavy, etc. etc.
Perhaps some kind of algorithm, so the computer can try to produce half intelligent guesses. But for sure a factory, doing massive numbers of experiments on a scale not seen before.
Uses: super conductors, strong materials, materials that can withstand heat etc. Can also search for logic gates this way, the building blocks of new computers.
We need first to understand that most of what was discovered is by chance. Few predicted something would work. Esp. in materials. So mix things, see what combination works.
Notice anything strange, no matter how small. Look at electricity. Just a small spark was produced at first, this could have been ignored.
The question is: have all combinations been tried? All leads followed up?
I'm thinking of going back to Edison's method of mass experimentation. This time taking it way further. Machines that automate the mixing process, to try and create new materials. On a massive, production line scale. A factory as big as a modern car plant. All for trying new combinations, as cheaply and efficiently as possible.
Bang things, shake things, mix things, heat things, etc. etc. all in different order, and repeating some of them. Then automatically measuring the properties. How hard, how strong, how elastic, how heavy, etc. etc.
Perhaps some kind of algorithm, so the computer can try to produce half intelligent guesses. But for sure a factory, doing massive numbers of experiments on a scale not seen before.
Uses: super conductors, strong materials, materials that can withstand heat etc. Can also search for logic gates this way, the building blocks of new computers.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Why did not I invent the toothbrush that made 10's of millions?
(initial draft)
Today I just read this story
http://jan.ocregister.com/2011/04/03/where-do-entrepreneurs-get-their-ideas/57069/
about a man who patented a toothbrush for kids that lights up. The linked article is good because it explains how the inventor came up with the idea.
I think it's always a great question to ask "why did I not do that?". What am I missing out? How can I up my game? And to compare all your methods and see if they are up to inventing that product.
Basically it is a toothbrush that lights up. Kids love it and it makes them spend time brushing their teeth, the light goes out when they are done.
He used the methods that I mentioned in my last posts, finding what is popular, and mixing it with an old existing product. He pointed out that he noticed lights are very popular and so added them to toothbrushes.
And (above all) noticing an unexpected good result that come about by accident when his daughter was playing. Being alert to notice both potential problems and unexpected possible results - pays off a lot in creativity. The more problems you can collect the better. The more of what is popular - the better. So down to the stores and see what is selling, which parts of them could you use in other inventions? Note I used the word "potential" - as you don't want to judge immediately whether it is a good problem or a good result. Just record them all before you forget - you can evaluate them later. A night's sleep can often get your subconscious to work on it for you, allowing you to think more clearly about it the next day (a great book about this is "Hare brain tortoise mind" by psychologist Guy Claxton).
I think it's always a numbers game. This is part the public often miss when they try inventing. They are not alert enough and they don't collect or go looking for problems to solve. They wait until it comes to them, and by chance they are alert enough to spot it that time when it occurs. I am sure many people wanting to be inventors, would have had problems getting their kids to brush their teeth. But how many would have noted that items with lights were popular, and esp. how many would have noted it as a problem to try to solve.
Some ideas may seem very obvious and you may be temped to assume they would have been done before. This is what I may have thought about the brush idea. But it is worth a quick check, partly because it is pretty easy now with google, and also because if you check enough of them, one of them is going to pay off, one will not have been invented before. It's only time. And if you are mixing it with some new technology new, like a light, there is a fair chance it's not been done yet.
What I would not do, is start doing any work on something without first checking it has not already been done or patented, that is just been too optimistic. All the work would be wasted if someone has already done that product! When checks are so easy to do - it is crazy not to.
Good advise is to come up with many ideas, write them down. After sleeping on it, decide which ones really utter rubbish and bin them. Then check the remaining ones to see if they have been done before on google, quickly, say no more than 10 mins to check each one. To become an ideas machine. It does not have to take that long to check if an idea has been done before on google. An effective way is often to use the picture search. E.g. you can picture search "children's toothbrush", and immediately get an idea of what is out there, your competition. Having narrowed the list down this way you then have a list of potentials you can work with.
I think it's best to keep them simple. And you do this by trying to solve everyday problems, like kids and toothbrushes. I don't have a link but I have heard of British woman who made a fortune from patenting a new type of duster that can get into difficult gaps. She got it by first finding a problem - then trying different ideas out for how to solve it. If she had thought, "oh somebody would have done this before", she would not have made her fortune.
Many ideas do not make a fortune, but can still get a decent income. One example of this is a new type of guitar pick invented that was mentioned on www.inventright.com Some guitar people liked it, and so it sold to some of them. Naturally not as big as dusters or toothbrushes, but enough to give some nice extra spending money. Especially if it is licenced, which cuts out most of the work for the inventor.
Successful entrepreneurs will tell you in the end only the market can tell you just how well a product will do. Even after doing all the checks (which you still must do) it is still possible the idea may not do so well. This is another type of numbers game. Maybe 1 in 3 of your inventions will hardly sell at all, and 1 in 10 will very much more than expected.
A good lesson form the toothbrush example is to get feedback from potential customers. As his child liked it, it was a good sign. I am sure there could be other ways to keep kids involved in the brushing process. But kids will like some more than others. And for sure you want the invention they are most likely to like the most. He found it by accident. You could experiment to make sure. That's how you make 10's of millions.
Today I just read this story
http://jan.ocregister.com/2011/04/03/where-do-entrepreneurs-get-their-ideas/57069/
about a man who patented a toothbrush for kids that lights up. The linked article is good because it explains how the inventor came up with the idea.
I think it's always a great question to ask "why did I not do that?". What am I missing out? How can I up my game? And to compare all your methods and see if they are up to inventing that product.
Basically it is a toothbrush that lights up. Kids love it and it makes them spend time brushing their teeth, the light goes out when they are done.
He used the methods that I mentioned in my last posts, finding what is popular, and mixing it with an old existing product. He pointed out that he noticed lights are very popular and so added them to toothbrushes.
And (above all) noticing an unexpected good result that come about by accident when his daughter was playing. Being alert to notice both potential problems and unexpected possible results - pays off a lot in creativity. The more problems you can collect the better. The more of what is popular - the better. So down to the stores and see what is selling, which parts of them could you use in other inventions? Note I used the word "potential" - as you don't want to judge immediately whether it is a good problem or a good result. Just record them all before you forget - you can evaluate them later. A night's sleep can often get your subconscious to work on it for you, allowing you to think more clearly about it the next day (a great book about this is "Hare brain tortoise mind" by psychologist Guy Claxton).
I think it's always a numbers game. This is part the public often miss when they try inventing. They are not alert enough and they don't collect or go looking for problems to solve. They wait until it comes to them, and by chance they are alert enough to spot it that time when it occurs. I am sure many people wanting to be inventors, would have had problems getting their kids to brush their teeth. But how many would have noted that items with lights were popular, and esp. how many would have noted it as a problem to try to solve.
Some ideas may seem very obvious and you may be temped to assume they would have been done before. This is what I may have thought about the brush idea. But it is worth a quick check, partly because it is pretty easy now with google, and also because if you check enough of them, one of them is going to pay off, one will not have been invented before. It's only time. And if you are mixing it with some new technology new, like a light, there is a fair chance it's not been done yet.
What I would not do, is start doing any work on something without first checking it has not already been done or patented, that is just been too optimistic. All the work would be wasted if someone has already done that product! When checks are so easy to do - it is crazy not to.
Good advise is to come up with many ideas, write them down. After sleeping on it, decide which ones really utter rubbish and bin them. Then check the remaining ones to see if they have been done before on google, quickly, say no more than 10 mins to check each one. To become an ideas machine. It does not have to take that long to check if an idea has been done before on google. An effective way is often to use the picture search. E.g. you can picture search "children's toothbrush", and immediately get an idea of what is out there, your competition. Having narrowed the list down this way you then have a list of potentials you can work with.
I think it's best to keep them simple. And you do this by trying to solve everyday problems, like kids and toothbrushes. I don't have a link but I have heard of British woman who made a fortune from patenting a new type of duster that can get into difficult gaps. She got it by first finding a problem - then trying different ideas out for how to solve it. If she had thought, "oh somebody would have done this before", she would not have made her fortune.
Many ideas do not make a fortune, but can still get a decent income. One example of this is a new type of guitar pick invented that was mentioned on www.inventright.com Some guitar people liked it, and so it sold to some of them. Naturally not as big as dusters or toothbrushes, but enough to give some nice extra spending money. Especially if it is licenced, which cuts out most of the work for the inventor.
Successful entrepreneurs will tell you in the end only the market can tell you just how well a product will do. Even after doing all the checks (which you still must do) it is still possible the idea may not do so well. This is another type of numbers game. Maybe 1 in 3 of your inventions will hardly sell at all, and 1 in 10 will very much more than expected.
A good lesson form the toothbrush example is to get feedback from potential customers. As his child liked it, it was a good sign. I am sure there could be other ways to keep kids involved in the brushing process. But kids will like some more than others. And for sure you want the invention they are most likely to like the most. He found it by accident. You could experiment to make sure. That's how you make 10's of millions.
Friday, 1 April 2011
Design by evolution, feedback and prototypes
(Initial daft of blog, feedback still welcome)
All too often corporations (and individuals) design something in detail, and then want it built. It can become their grand plan, with many ideas incorporated. This is in some corporations an industry standard method of design.
Compare this to making a prototype that is able to run the basic idea of what you have as quickly as possible, and then getting feedback from it. There is nothing like seeing something work in real world situations, and then learning from them. This hands on learning is invaluable. It makes it a lot easier to design something.
Charles Babbage was guilty of this. He designed a mechanical computer, he spent much time on the design of a grand complete computer. He at one point ripped up one design because he thought it no good, to start again. If he has instead built small parts first that worked and showed his concept worked, he would have A) been inspired to carry on B) learnt lessons from seeing it in reality C) been much more likely to get investment.
People can see and understand something so much better when they can see it working. This goes for inventors, designers, and investors. This is far better than having to read pages of technical documents. Few investors will do this, and also it is hard for inventors to explain their ideas well as most are not professional writers. But to show them is a different matter. THAT can be their main way of communication.
As a side note: there is great power in doing reviews that can pick up where we may be going wrong as quickly as possible. And in looking to learn from mistakes uncovered. It was only when looking at a project and trying to get a handle on it, that I realized it had got too complex in the design. My love of invention meant I just kept on adding in more and more ideas, and had lost track of the core of what the idea was about in a sea of ideas. These ideas were good and were worth returning to, but I needed to know the core ideas, and to get them tested on real world data.
It's fun to get feedback, and to play with something. It keeps you in flow, because feedback is good for the soul.
All too often corporations (and individuals) design something in detail, and then want it built. It can become their grand plan, with many ideas incorporated. This is in some corporations an industry standard method of design.
Compare this to making a prototype that is able to run the basic idea of what you have as quickly as possible, and then getting feedback from it. There is nothing like seeing something work in real world situations, and then learning from them. This hands on learning is invaluable. It makes it a lot easier to design something.
Charles Babbage was guilty of this. He designed a mechanical computer, he spent much time on the design of a grand complete computer. He at one point ripped up one design because he thought it no good, to start again. If he has instead built small parts first that worked and showed his concept worked, he would have A) been inspired to carry on B) learnt lessons from seeing it in reality C) been much more likely to get investment.
People can see and understand something so much better when they can see it working. This goes for inventors, designers, and investors. This is far better than having to read pages of technical documents. Few investors will do this, and also it is hard for inventors to explain their ideas well as most are not professional writers. But to show them is a different matter. THAT can be their main way of communication.
As a side note: there is great power in doing reviews that can pick up where we may be going wrong as quickly as possible. And in looking to learn from mistakes uncovered. It was only when looking at a project and trying to get a handle on it, that I realized it had got too complex in the design. My love of invention meant I just kept on adding in more and more ideas, and had lost track of the core of what the idea was about in a sea of ideas. These ideas were good and were worth returning to, but I needed to know the core ideas, and to get them tested on real world data.
It's fun to get feedback, and to play with something. It keeps you in flow, because feedback is good for the soul.
Saturday, 1 January 2011
HOW A COLLAPSING BRIDGE (AND A TEDDY BEAR) LEAD TO 5 FORMULAS THAT GENERATE BEST SELLING IDEAS FOR YOU
I recently saw the Tacoma bridge collapsing on a documentary...
If a bridge collapses,
engineers around the world immediately start looking for what may have caused it, and start looking if their bridges will collapse. Can you blame them?
but how many people start looking for similar ideas when a new business does well ?
do you ?
This is the difference between being reactive and proactive. Be the first person to protect your bridge, be the first person to latch onto new business models. Don't wait until you need to.
(not keeping up in a rapidly changing world is almost the same as collapsing... this sounds negative but its positive side is that it motives you when you realize this is now the reality of business)
I will now present a method for abstracting the essence behind a successful idea, so that you can find a host of similar ideas yourself. This is useful as ideas are about number games. Out of the many, one of these ideas you generate is bound to be a best seller.
Ideas contain memes
Ideas contain memes underneath, and a new meme is very powerful, it can generate a host of new ideas, as we will soon see.
It could be anything you see that fires you up, a new business model, a new style of music, a new type of gadget, all of them have concepts underneath, that can be used to generate new ideas.
One way to do this is when you see a new good idea (that fires your passion) - ask - how could I have got this idea myself?
Recent successful model: teddy bear with LCD
I recently heard how a teddy bear with an LCD display in it, to show night-time stories etc, did very well.
How could I have got the memes for this idea?
How to get formulas: from any idea
Now we get to what this post is all about. How to take any idea and generate formulas to make similar ideas from it. Do as follows :-
- Start by breaking an idea it down into its key components, e.g. a toy and an LCD screen
- Then list these at another level of abstraction, e.g in this case an old traditional unchanged product, with something new
And so our first formula is born :-
Formula 1
- an old traditional unchanged product
- with something new
(by new something recently invented / made cheap - like the LCD)
another method is to not abstract every part but just some, so :-
Formula 2
- a traditional toy
- with something new
(esp. as I know toys are always selling well, and rife for inventions / new ideas)
These may not seem useful formulas until you start to see what they can come up with. A key part in any invention and innovation is first getting a decent set of problem definitions. In solving these you will generate many ideas, some of which will be good ones.
E.g. in this formula we could have one of my fav. old toys as a child, a plane with a catapult that propelled it far, and spice it up, e.g. by putting a cheap camera on it that can upload the image to a mobile phone after via. blue tooth etc. These are so small, light and cheap now. The angle of the camera on the plane body could be changed to get different viewpoints. You could even launch one plane and then try to follow it with another that films the first. or have other toys you could mount the same camera in, such as a small rocket that floats down via. parashoot. Such an idea has its time come now, or very soon, as it is suddenly so cheap to make.
The new, the LCD, can also be listed in another of its aspects, "a popular item", as LCDs are popular now.
Formula 3
- a traditional toy
- with something popular / trending
This is always going to be a powerful formula, as popular is strong. And mixing it with something that has proved popular in the past, with something new, will give a great chance of creating something both new and popular.
Formula 4
- an old traditional unchanged product
- with something popular / trending
This provides formulas rife for new ideas. Ideas that are likely to sell, as it is based on a framework that worked. Plus it worked recently, so is more likely to create ideas whose time is now (not to create ideas whose time is past or way in the future).
Finally, I noticed this has been done before, an old 80's best selling toy (in the millions) was a bear with a tape player in it to read out night-time stories.
Thus a new formula for ideas -
Formula 5
- look to old ideas that have worked
- list the parts
- see which of them can be updated
E.g. I could have looked at the best selling toys over recent decades, and found the teddy bear with the tape player in it. I could have then updated it to an LCD screen - another recent invention. And easily I could have got a great new idea! (How hard is it to replace the tape recorder in the teddy with an LCD when you are looking to replace it?) I could see myself getting this idea almost for certain using this formula. It would also be likely to sell well (because children in the past liked the same idea with a tape player). As long as it is executed well of course. So for a very small amount of work - we have a best selling toy. Ideas don't always come that quickly, but sometimes you get lucky. That's part of the fun, you never know when you will get your next great idea.
Which idea to start with? - Follow Passion
Passion is the best motivator for creativity and great work. Edison considered this so important, that he only let people work on what fired them up. So above all start with an idea that generates passion in YOU, and then find the memes behind that with the method above. Passion is the energy required to play the numbers game that is creativity.
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