A long time ago, in my very first SIT blog, I wrote about my nephew, Rani. Don’t worry though, it is not like I expect you to rememberJ. Anyway, a lot has changed since then but I’ll mention here just two relevant points: my nephew is now five years old and for the last 37.5 days he has been living in China with his parents and baby sister but unfortunately, without moi.

His move to China was accompanied by many concerns on my part, one of them being how do we manage to maintain our close relationship despite the formidable distance. I was reassured by friends saying that in today’s world, keeping in touch is much easier due to technology such as skype, but I kept wondering nevertheless how that would work when it comes to a 5-year old kid with the attention span of a… 5-year old kid.

37.5 days later, I can tell you: it works! I have between two to four weekly video calls with my nephew, each lasting something like 45 to 90 minutes.

The first time we had a skype video call, it was more of a Q&A type of thing but then I looked around and realized we are surrounded by a lot of elements that can be used to make our chat more interactive, more fun, more captivating and eventually last longer.

Let me give you a few examples of those elements identified and which activities we did using them:

Books: When I was home I noticed some of Rani’s favorite books left behind so I read to him. I just put the book itself close to the camera so he could see the pictures while he heard me reading it to him.

CDs: What I also had at home were his CDs so I put one of his favorite CDs on and we started dancing or actually more like going wild together (not recommended when you have an audience..)

Video camera: Moved the camera around and asked Rani to identify what he sees. He did the same thing and it became kind of a game with points gained for each item identified correctly.

Covered the camera with my hand, made a noise and asked Rani to identify the noise he heard.

Messages:

As Rani is just now learning his ABCs, I sent him one or two-word messages and asked him to read what I sent.

I asked him what he wanted me to write and sent him a message with this text.

Timer: for a kid as fascinated with numbers as this one, simply asking for a reading of the numbers, watching how they advance is considered an interesting activity with Aunt Iris.

Group video: add the grandparents to the chat and to the games. The more the merrier!

Our own faces: a staring competition to see who laughs first at the funny faces the other does. Again, not sure you’d want witnesses for that one…

The movements we do: triggered in me a childhood memory of the game “Simon says”. We added the grandparents to the game, by the way, using the group video which made it even more fun!

I hope that I have made the point about how easy it has been to come up with these practical ideas above simply by using what we have around us or as we call it at SIT our “Closed World”*.

By the way, our chats have become so successful that my sister- in-law actually found a substantial benefit for her. She sets up some of our chats herself to keep little Rani busy only so that she can take a much needed nap herself…

*Note: The SIT Closed World principle dictates that, when solving a problem or developing new products (or services or processes), one should strive to use only those resources that exist in the product (or system) itself, or in its immediate vicinity.

1930 Photo of the early Slicing Machine

Over the last century or so, innovation has gradually become a more and more dominant factor in our world. However, despite the increasing presence and influence innovations have on our everyday lives, none of them has made it into our language – save one: sliced bread. We often hear statements like “it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread!”, but have you ever stopped to ask yourselves how this seemingly simple innovation has managed to become the benchmark for future inventions? A closer look at the history of sliced bread may shed some light on this question.

In the early years of the 20^th century, Otto Frederick Rohwedder had a revolutionary idea: why not sell bread that is already sliced?! A Jeweller by profession, Rohwedder had little to do with the baking industry, but living in a small town in Iowa, right in the middle of the bread basket of America, he was no stranger to it as well. In 1912 he decided to implement his vision, and started to develop a machine that would automatically slice bread. As his project advanced he soon realized that slicing the bread created a new problem – the multiple surfaces of the sliced bread made it hard to keep it from going stale. It was 16 years later that he completed developing a bread slicer that not only sliced the bread, but also wrapped it in a wax paper to keep it fresh.

Although many bakers had their doubts about this strange machine, the first Rohwedder Bread Slicer was sold after 16 years in 1928, and by July that same year the first loaf of pre-sliced bread went on shelves in Chillicothe, Missouri. Soon after, in 1930, a company called Wonder Bread started marketing sliced bread nationwide

Sliced bread saved time and effort for consumers, and made it easier to reach for a second and third slice, increasing comfort and consumption. It also gave a boost to pop-up toasters, which had been languishing on the shelves since 1926, as well as to spreads such as peanut butter and jam.

So what is it about this invention that earned it its unique place? Was it the unveiling of such a dominant need that was latent for so many years? Was it the fact that even one of the oldest, most basic products in the world can be reinvented? Was it the immense success of an idea that is so simple it seems almost obvious in hindsight? Or was it the fact that even such an iconic invention still took almost two decades to develop and implement?

Whatever the historic answer may be, there is much to learn from the story of sliced bread. It is a story of a man and an idea – a story that turns out to be far more complicated than you might expect. It involved insight, challenge, creativity and perseverance – much like the story of any successful innovation.

So whatever you spread on your bread – peanut butter & jelly, cream cheese or humus – tell us what you think made this innovation resonate so loudly in our collective minds. We would love to hear what you think.

Budweiser, Heineken, Bud Light, Stella Artois and others are all communicating the message that someone is making an absurdly exaggerated effort to get hold of their beer. Or variations on this theme such as: the effort to be able to enjoy the beverage in its pristine situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aO3TO5L0bM

Commonly it’s an effort made from the point of view of the consumer, but sometimes it’s from the company, telling us about the lengths it goes to allow its customers to experience their product in the most favorable conditions, or the sacrifices made to preserve the secret formula.

In a recent campaign from the UK cider brand Strongbow, the basic pattern is given a neat twist, and plays on the idea of being ‘deserving’ enough to drink the product. Pie stuffers, window-cleaners and gas fitters have earned it through their sacrifice, and banker…well, as the ads tell us, what have they done to deserve it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZSFlkA1NM&feature=relmfu

In a world of fierce originality and brand competition, it is a curious phenomenon that a whole category tends to follow the same basic advertising approach. Why? Is it the lack of a unique selling point/message? And could this happen in other categories? For instance, could it be that all cellular companies will communicate the same message? Or should they make an effort to come up with a distinctive message?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3tywFm95Sg

It is the begining of wintertime in the northern hemisphere. What better way to prepare for winter than to get ready for all the viruses that come with it? Today’s case study is about one of Israel’s largest HMO’s (Health Maintenance Organization) and its struggle to reduce the use of antibiotics amongst its virus-stricken patients.

 In the years leading up to 2001 the statistics showed a consistent annual increase in both the prescription and use of antibiotics amongst children. Today, it is common knowledge that overuse of antibiotics is one of healthcare’s biggest  concerns. Back then, only healthcare professionals were aware of the danger of the evolution of “supergerms” with resistance to antibiotics.  This, together with the financial impact that heavy antibiotic consumption had on the insurers (e.g. HMO’s) who subsidize the drug’s purchase, incentivized the HMO to find a solution.

Funnily enough, the biggest contributors to the problem were the HMO’s own general practitioner members, who obviously knew better. It was found that they were oversubscribing antibiotics to their patients, not because they felt that it was the correct treatment, but because the HMO was – in part – evaluating them according to customer (patient) satisfaction.  And it is not surprising that parents with children who did not feel well had their own motivations: 1) they wanted some type of medication to give their kids so that they felt they were contributing to the removal of their child’s suffering and 2) they needed to get back to work ASAP.

 Parents demanded antibiotics.

 SIT was invited by the HMO to help generate solutions to this problem, applying the Systematic Inventive Thinking method during multiple sessions over several days. After the initial mapping of the problem, it was apparent that there wouldn’t be one silver-bullet solution, but a collection of solutions addressing different aspects of the problem.  However, at the forefront remained the paradox of the doctors’ dilemma: wanting to satisfy their patients while giving the most appropriate clinical solution.  In other words, the HMO was looking to remove the connection between the patient’s request for antibiotics and the doctor’s decision regarding the right treatment.

 One of the most innovative solutions generated was a result of SIT’s Multiplication tool:  Add to the problem world something that is similar to what already exists there.

 The item brought in was a second prescription.

 The idea was that the doctor would give the parent two prescriptions.  One was effective immediately, prescribing medications that reduce the severity of the symptoms - nose drops, lozenges, etc.; the second, effective 48 hours later, was the prescription for antibiotics.  It was anticipated that if the symptoms are gone by then (as is the case with most viruses), the parent would simply not fill this second prescription. [Note that in 2001 the OTC market in Israel was close to non-existent.  Therefore, even symptomatic medicines were dispensed only by a pharmacist even though no prescription was needed.]

 This solution, together with an ad campaign against antibiotic overuse, and other solutions involving education for parents and doctors, generated an impressive decrease of 33% in antibiotic consumption during the following 2 years.

 A very healthy, virus-free and bacteria-free winter to you all!

This is something Adi Marom - a good friend of mine, an artist and a designer from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at the Tisch School of the Arts in NYU - has been busy working on.   

Inspired by her own personal experience as the shortest kid in class (which at a young age really means the shortest kid in the world), Adi has explored the possibility of making height an interactive variable that can be modified in real-time, in order to reshape interactions between people. 

The result: a project entitled SHORT ++ featuring a pair of mechanical/robotic lift shoes, activated by an iPhone app.  In her promo video (using Randy Newman’s ‘Short People’ track), Adi demonstrates a variety of daily situations where being able to make yourself taller can come in very handy: from the convenience of reaching the top shelf in your kitchen, to the confidence boost of being able to look a 6ft 3 guy on the side-walk directly in the eye.  What makes Adi’s invention robotic shoes unique, is that at the press of a touch screen you’re brought gently back to earth again.   So, thanks to SHORT ++, being short may soon be just a state of mind.

SHORT++ from Adi Marom on Vimeo.

Many of these gimmicks don’t usually help in the long run, and in many cases they damage the chances of those who created them.

As in many other cases, to be effective the idea needs to be within the boundaries of the “Closed World” of the problem.

So when thinking about how to impress their future employers people need to think about ideas that are related to them, their employers and the job they’re after.

Recently I came across such an idea, and will present it as part of a fictive CV that was sent to the company, ABC Advertising, in 2010.

———
The CV starts with the usual stuff, and then…

2010 - chosen from 1000 candidates to work as a planner for ABC Advertising.
2011 - won a tender for Coca Cola’s advertising and introduced an inventive advertising idea…
2012 - promoted to the position of London Branch Manager for ABC Advertising

and so on…

The idea was to write the CV as continuing into the future, and this enabled this jobseeker to express his plans and his confidence.

This example shows, once again, the fixation we have regarding thinking about time. SIT’s view of time is considered to be part of the environment of the problem.

SIT directs us to focus not only on the place where the problem arose, but also on its environment.

In the same way it directs us to pay attention to the time environment of the problem: what happened before the problem arose, and what happens after it arose if we don’t solve it.

See you all in my next post,

Roni

Roni and the rest of us at SIT would be happy to talk to you about innovation.

Click here to contact us

Visit Roni at the start2think website

Space is limited.

Register now by clicking here

For those who know SIT
For those who don’t

For those who joined our previous webinar
For those who couldn’t make it

For those who are bosses
For those who have bosses

For those who have participated in SIT workshops
For those who haven’t

For those who deal with products
For those who deal with services

For those who think alone
For those who think together

For those who admire symmetry
For those who wish to break it

For innovation in your job
For innovation in your home

For you, for your friends, for your colleagues – for everyone!

Inspired by SIT’s Attribute Dependency tool and Coca Cola TV commercial

Part 2 of our Inventive Thinking series looks at Attribute Dependency - one of SIT’s most powerful and misunderstood innovation templates.  At its heart, the Attribute Dependency tool is about breaking the symmetrical thinking patterns that can block new thinking.

In the webinar we’ll show how you can use Attribute Dependency to create new products and develop new promises on demand.

This webinar is free. Duration: Approx. 1 hour.

The webinar will be conducted by Tamar Alterman and Nurit Cohen from SIT.

About Tamar Alterman

Tamar is an account manager and facilitator at SIT, with an emphasis on New Product Development, Implementation Strategy and Marketing Communications. Tamar studied for two Masters’ Degrees at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in both Cognitive and Social Psychology.

About Nurit Cohen

Nurit is a senior facilitator of SIT workshops for Strategy and New Product Development.  Nurit’s years of experience running innovation projects for Johnson & , Kimberly Clark, Bayer, Pearson Publishing, and many others have made her a specialist in new product implementation and in working with sales forces.  Nurit taught SIT to MBA students at the Ben Gurion University in Israel. She holds an MBA with special focus in Marketing and Organizational Behavior as well as a BA in Business Administration, Anthropology and Sociology, all from the Hebrew University.

Register now by clicking here

If the exact same stairs, however, made fun sounds when climbing them, would that make a difference?

You will find the answer to this question in the following clip which demonstrates that assigning stairs a new task of “convincing” people to climb them can result in a fun, innovative and perhaps unexpected situation.

The SIT pattern, by the way, that we see in this inventive idea is called “Task Unification”.  When using this pattern, we assign a new task to an existing component – in this case, we assigned the (existing) stairs with the task of convincing people to climb them (a task they didn’t fill before).

What other task could we assign the stairs? Any ideas?