The Wall Street Journal featured our new book, Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results (Simon & Schuster), on the front page of the weekend edition. Jacob and I contributed the feature article which is adapted from the book. Here are some excerpts.
When most CEOs hear the word “innovation,” they roll their eyes. It conjures up images of employees wasting hours, even days, sitting in beanbag chairs, tossing Frisbees and regurgitating ideas they had already considered. “Brainstorming” has become a byword for tedium and frustration.
Over the past decade, we have asked senior executives, on every continent and in every major industry, two key questions about innovation. The first: “On a scale of one to 10, how important is innovation to the success of your firm?” The second: “On a scale of one to 10, how satisfied are you with the level of innovation in your firm?”
Not surprisingly, they rate the importance of innovation very high: usually a nine or 10. None disputes that innovation is the No. 1 source of growth. Without fail, however, most senior executives give a low rating—below five—to their level of satisfaction with innovation.
How could business leaders rate innovation as so important yet feel so dissatisfied with their own organization’s performance? Because what they really want to know is how: How do you actually generate novel ideas and do so consistently, on demand.
Here is the premise of Inside the Box:
We
advocate a radically different approach: thinking inside the proverbial
box, not outside of it. People are at their most creative when they
focus on the internal aspects of a situation or problem—and when they
constrain their options rather than broaden them. By defining and then
closing the boundaries of a particular creative challenge, most of us
can be more consistently creative—and certainly more productive than we
are when playing word-association games in front of flip charts or
talking about grand abstractions at a company retreat.
Inventions can be extraordinary, but invention isn’t an extraordinary event or an activity for a specialized group. Nor is creativity reserved for the gifted and talented. It’s a skill that can be learned and mastered by anyone, if approached properly. Like so much else in life, the more it’s practiced, the more skillful at it we become.
For those of you who have ordered the book, we thank you. And thanks to the many emails, tweets, and comments of support during our first week.
Be sure to check out the rest of our website that has lots of resources and cool things about the book as well as our Facebook Page for regular updates about the project and the authors.
“We dedicate this book
to all past and future
generations of innovators
making the world
a better place.”
Today, we released “Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results.” The premise of the book is that creativity can be systematic and predictable.
We dedicated the book to past generations of innovators for a simple reason. For thousands of years, inventors have embedded five simple patterns into their inventions, usually without knowing it. These patterns are the “DNA” of products that can be extracted and applied to any product or service to create new-to-the-world innovations. These patterns form the basis of a method called Systematic Inventive Thinking, and we describe the method and how to use it in this book.
Our hope is that future generations can use this method to find new and creative ways to improve the world we live in.
We hope you’ll take the time to read it, and we encourage you to reach out to us if you have questions and ideas about it.
Drew and Jacob
The Subtraction tool works by removing elements generally considered essential to the situation. The tool can be used in any marketing communications medium (television, print, and so on). The tool works by drawing your attention to the missing component. As a result, the ad is more memorable.
Subtraction is one of eight patterns embedded in most innovative commercials. Jacob Goldenberg and his colleagues describe these simple, well-defined design structures in their book, "Cracking the Ad Code," and provide a step-by-step approach to using them. The tools are:
1. Unification
2. Activation
3. Metaphor
4. Subtraction
5. Extreme Consequence
6. Absurd Alternative
7. Inversion
8. Extreme Effort
Here is an example from the French multinational, Saint Gobain, a manufacturer of construction, materials, and packaging products. To highlight the superiority of one of its product lines, it released a series of commercials including this one:
What makes this example more interesting is the “fusion” of the message and product. The glass is so superior that it seems “subtracted” from the situation. Only until we see the surprising fog on the glass do we realize the message. The commercial not only has this nice element of humor, but it also has a sense of simplicity and “ideality” – the solution appears only when needed.
To use the Subtraction tool, make a list of the components of the situation. Remove what seems to be an essential one. Imagine telling the story without this component and test how strongly the viewer’s mind will interpret the situation with the component. Make the message, brand, and missing element fuse together into one memorable visual experience.
Signs are perhaps the most ancient yet still relevant tools of marketing. According to the International Sign Association, signage is the least expensive but most effective form of advertising and can account for half of your customers.
Can sign makers use systematic methods of creativity? Absolutely.
Here is a classic example of Attribute Dependency in signage. Attribute Dependency is one of five techniques of the corporate innovation method called SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking). It differs from the other techniques in that it uses attributes (variables) of the situation rather than components. Start with an attribute list, then construct a matrix of these, pairing each against the others. Each cell represents a potential dependency (or potential break in an existing dependency) that forms a Virtual Product. Using Function Follows Form, we work backwards and envision a potential benefit or problem that this hypothetical solution solves.
In this example, the sign’s message is dependent on the height (therefore, age) of the viewer. That is the hallmark of Attribute Dependency – as one thing changes, another thing changes. I always think of transition sunglasses as an example.
For an interesting history of signs, visit the American Sign Museum located here in Cincinnati. Special thanks to my co-author, Dr. Jacob Goldenberg, for sharing this with me.
Systematic Inventive Thinking is not only for inventing new products and services. You can apply it to a variety of functions and processes. SIT is based on the idea that mankind has used distinct patterns when creating new solutions or innovations. These patterns are embedded into the products and services you see around you. The SIT method structures your thinking and channels your ideation to take advantage of these patterns by re-applying them to something else.
Consider the human resources function of an organization. Here are suggestions of which SIT technique to apply in a variety of HR activities:
For more insights about using the SIT method, visit Inside the Box.
The University of Cincinnati announced it will launch its first Massive Open Online Course (called MOOC) next fall. It will be the first MOOC to teach Systematic Inventive Thinking (S.I.T.), an innovation method based on templates.
MOOCs are unique because they allow literally thousands of students to learn together via distance learning technology. MOOCs provide students from around the world the opportunity to learn from industry experts at little or no cost. They are a great way for individuals to learn new concepts and test their readiness for continued professional development.
S.I.T. is a structured process of innovating new products, services, and processes used by many corporations globally. A growing number of universities are teaching the method including Columbia University, University of Chicago, Wharton, MIT, and several outside the U.S..
Open online courses have risen in popularity over the past year, but they have generally not been tied to a university credential. UC is addressing this issue by launching an innovative new program this fall known as MOOC2Degree. In MOOC2Degree, the UC MOOCs will feature the same academic content and taught by the same instructors as our traditional classes. More importantly, students who successfully complete the MOOC2Degree course and enroll in an applicable UC degree program may earn credit.
As noted by Dr. Larry Johnson, UC’s interim provost notes, “We’re confident that once MOOC students begin interacting with our expert faculty and their fellow classmates, they’ll begin forming a lasting educational relationship with the university.”
Since Academic Partnerships and UC’s announcement of the MOOC2Degree program in late January, the revolutionary program has already been featured in articles from The New York Times, Inside Higher Ed and The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The first UC class to be offered in the MOOC2Degree initiative will be Innovation and Design Thinking, a cross-disciplinary course collaboratively offered by the Carl H. Lindner College of Business and the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences. The MOOC will be taught by assistant professors Drew Boyd and Jim Tappel. Students who complete the MOOC and enroll in a UC Business or Engineering degree program can apply the credits.
For more information on the UC MOOC2Degree program, please contact BJ Zirger (bj.zirger@uc.edu) (513-556-7148) at the Lindner College of Business or Eugene Rutz (Eugne.Rutz@uc.edu) (513-556-1096) at the College of Engineering and Applied Science.