… that is what creativity is
“The creative act is not an act of creation in the sense of the Old Testament. It does not create something out of nothing; it uncovers, selects, re-shuffles, combines, synthesises already existing facts, ideas, faculties, skills.” Arthur Koestler.
Consider how the following widely used products were created
Velcro: If you have ever fastened a child’s shoe, then you have probably used this innovative product. Yet it was created out of an experience that mankind has had for centuries. When the Swiss inventor, George de Mestral, went out hunting one day in the late 1940s he accidentally brushed against a bush, that left him covered with burrs. When he tried to get rid of them, he couldn’t. The burrs were stuck to his clothes. Rather than feel annoyed, de Mestral felt curious. Using a microscope he discovered that the hundreds of tiny hooks on each burr had locked themselves into the threads of his trousers. And so over the next few years, he proceeded to create a new product- the Velcro’
Penicillin: Alexander Fleming was not the first scientist to observe that mould could form on an exposed culture of deadly bacteria, under study. For years other physicians had simply thrown away the culture, that they considered spoilt by the growing fungus, yet Alexander Fleming noted it as "interesting" and wanted to explore it further. Out of his interesting observation penicillin developed, a medication that has saved millions of lives.
Elliptical training machine: If you have ever sweated away, in a gym trying to lose weight, or building up your fitness, then you have probably used the elliptical training machine. Again this invention comes from something mankind has been doing for centuries, running. When Larry Miller videotaped his daughter running, he noticed the elliptical path her feet traced as she ran. Using that observation, Miller build a prototype machine that copied the elliptical movements of running without the jarring force of feet hitting the hard ground.
Correction Fluid: Errors turned Bette Nesmith, a secretary at Texas Bank & Trust into a millionaire. She watched what the decorators in her office were doing whenever they made a mistake. They would simply paint over it. She tried the same, spreading a thin layer of paint on her mistakes in the documents she prepared. Though one boss warned her not to use the “white stuff” on his letters, Nesmith persevered and started supplying other secretaries with what she called “Mistake out”. Within a decade she sold out to Gillette for nearly $50 million – plus royalties.
These are just a few examples of innovative products that had their origins in something that already existed. So look around, at all the common situations, in your life and business. They could be a source of new innovative products or services.
PeopleAchieve’s training programme on “Techniques to Generate New Ideas and Solve Problems in the Workplace”, trains participants on specific techniques that enable this change in perception and leads to creativity.
