Muskie Tank Starter Help. and your ideas apart. This is a document that will help give pointers on how to start thinking

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1 Muskie Tank Starter Help Tday we live in a sciety where there are new ideas, new inventins, and new businesses every day. The challenge is, hw is yur idea better than what is already ut there, and what sets yu and yur ideas apart. This is a dcument that will help give pinters n hw t start thinking abut an idea, and ways t imprve n ideas. Get the ball rlling. Yu need t get thse creative juices rlling. It is als imprtant t understand that everyne has ptential t be creative. Smetimes ther peple get in the way f ur riginal ideas, r ur wn expectatins are t high. This is where yu need t take a step back and ask urselves what if, even t ideas that already exist. It wuld be beneficial t daily find an idea and ask what if and write it dwn. We say this because unfrtunately ur memry is nt as gd as we wuld like t admit, and we might nt remember an awesme idea we had yesterday. Many peple we wuld cnsider famus inventrs cllected their ideas, and yu shuld d the same. This way yu can get the creativity flwing t find yur perfect idea. It shuld als be nted that yu cannt let negative cmments kill an idea, instead take the negative cmments and translate it t creative criticism. Everyne can cme up with a new idea Never think that yu are nt smart enugh t cme up with a new innvative idea. High IQ and the ability t see a simple slutin t even the mst cmplex prblems have n crrelatin. We will talk abut a few ways t cme up with a new idea. One way t apprach this is t lk at this prcess in three steps and cmes frm Hw t Transfrm Yur Ideas Int Tmrrw s Innvatins by Rivkin, Seitel, and Fraser.

2 1. Preparatin. Start bsessing ver a prblem. This means cllect infrmatin, data, and pinins. Tell yur brain t get t wrk. 2. Incubatin. While yu re busy ding ther things, a part f yur uncnscius mind is swirling. Yur brain cmpares thughts and funnels cncepts tgether. 3. Illuminatin. A new and reasnably cmplete idea surfaces, seemingly ut f nwhere. Brainstrming An article by Kate Matsudira titled Hw t Cme Up with Great ideas, helps us get a better understanding abut brainstrming new ideas. Think abut prducts that yu enjy. Why d yu enjy it? Start articulating what yu like abut prducts and then try and find a pattern in understanding what makes these prducts great, and what s the mtivatin with this prduct? When yu understand what mtivates users, it can help yu discver methds and patterns that yu can apply t yur ideas. The biggest take away frm brainstrming, is the quantity f ideas. That means ignre the quality f each idea, and just cme up with as many ideas as yu can. Yu can even pick a tpic, and brainstrm ideas arund that tpic. The next thing t think abut is t listen and bserve. This means, viewing peple in their natural habitat can help yu generate ideas. This way yu can see things that culd be imprved. Fr example watching peple walk by with their suitcase, think hw culd that design be imprved. Be curius and ask a lt f questins. This means, d yu knw hw things really wrk? Think f prducts yu use daily, d yu really understand hw yur Wi-Fi wrks? Take time t really understand hw things wrk, that way yu will knw where the faults are r yu can get an idea n hw t make smething better.

3 Embrace mre f yur ideas. Talk abut yur ideas with ther peple. This is a way t have an idea grw int smething great. Get yur creative juices flwing t cme up with an idea that can grw. Make sure that the friends yu talk t are nes that will supprt yu, rather than be clsed minded and tell yu all f the reasns it wuldn t wrk. Brrwing an idea? That s fine What if yu can t cme up with a brand new idea? That s fine. Brrwing an idea, and adapting it t yur prblem is a way that many new inventins have cme t be. An example cmes again frm Rivikin, Seitel, and Fraser, in an example f wh hw Dr. Rene Laennec was lking fr a way t help diagnse his patients. He was inspired t invent the stethscpe when he saw children sending signals t each ther by tapping n either end f a hllw lg. This means that it is a great idea t lk arund while ging places, yu never knw when inspiratin will hit yu. Hwever, yu will first need a prblem. But nce yu have that prblem here is a way t lk at it. Break the prblem int bite-sized pieces that are easier t handle Wrk n prblem slving bth individually and with thers Assume that mst slutins will cme frm an assciatin f ideas Understand that existing ideas can be mdified in dzens f different ways Design Thinking Design thinking is structured int five phases. Fr example, the five phases in Design Thinking fr Educatrs are discvery, interpretatin, ideatin, experimentatin and evlutin. Hwever, yu can mdify the five phases t fit yur needs. This infrmatin cmes t us frm Smaagaard s Design Thinking fr Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

4 Discvery: Understanding the challenge, preparing research and gathering infrmatin. Step ut f yur cmfrt zne and explre and cnnect yur prblem(s) in areas yu might nt have thught abut. Interpretatin: Search fr meaning and frame pprtunities t establish a clear directin. Tell stries that relate t the prblem at hand, and find cmmn themes. Challenge yurself t think abut plitical factrs, ecnmic climate, technlgy factrs, custmer needs, and uncertainties. Explre pssibilities and inspire ideas. Ideatin: Refine ideas and cme up with slutins. Encurage wild ideas while nt being judgmental. Build n each ther. One cnversatin at a time. Be visual, draw ideas because smetimes pictures speak luder than wrds. G fr quantity, set utrageus gals and then surpass it. Once yu have fund the idea yu want t g with Select a title fr the idea cncept. Capture the essence f the idea cncept in ne sentence. Sketch the idea cncept. Describe hw the idea cncept will wrk. List pprtunities the idea cncept will address. List all stakehlders invlved bth in creating and using the idea cncept. Describe what will be learned thrugh prttyping the idea cncept Experimentatin: Prduce prttypes, graphs, diagrams, strybards, and/r advertisement. Anything t put yur idea int a tangible slutin. Evlutin: Imprve n yur prduct, service r idea. If yu make it past the first rund, yu will get feedback and assigned a mentr. This will give yu the tls t evlve yur

5 prduct int a better prduct, service r idea. Set gals that fit inside the business plan and ask questins the whle time. Things t think abut Is there a way t substitute a prduct and put yur idea in its place? An example f this is backpacks. There is the standard backpack, but smene had a prblem when it rained that their bks wuld always get wet. Thus the waterprf backpack was invented and is the preferred backpack ptins in rainy states like Oregn. Or is there a way t substitute labr with technlgy? The pssibilities fr substitutes are endless. Anther thing yu can d is cmbine prducts r cncepts, t slve the prblem. Yu can piece tgether thing that are in yur life, and cmbine them int a new idea. This can even be cmbining an idea, and pairing it with a website, r an app. When cming up with an idea, maybe think abut changing the size f smething t make it better. Think abut phnes fr example, the trend used t be trying t get phnes as small as pssible, but then lk at sme cell phnes nw they re huge! Or lk at laptps, they are nw a lt less bulky than they used t be. When yu feel like yu re stuck, lk at an bject and ask yurself what else culd this be? Culd just a randm bject be useful in a way that is nt autmatically thught f? Think what is a new way we culd use this thing, as is and hw culd this thing be mdified t fit a new use (Rivkin, Seitel, Fraser 2002). Think abut what prducts have disappeared in yur lifetime, r befre yur lifetime. What can yu breathe new life int? What can yu bring back, and make it better?

6 If wrking in a grup, here are sme steps t effective brainstrming nce again supplied by Hw t Transfrm Yur Ideas Int Tday s Innvatins. 1. Invite peple wh want t be there 2. Build a cmfrtable envirnment 3. Make if fun 4. Keep it small 5. Aim t d it in daylight 6. Set a time limit 7. Clearly define the prblem and set parameters 8. Keep it upbeat 9. Mve and tuch. Sme peple think better while walking arund, and thers think better with smething in their hand. 10. Encurage piggybacking and riccheting. Build ideas ff f each ther. 11. Recrd everything. Remember, yur memry is nt as gd as yu think it is. 12. Generate ideas first, judge later. When getting arund t finalizing the idea. Here are sme things t cnsider. 1. Define the prblem 2. Analyze ptential causes 3. Identify pssible slutins 4. Select the best slutin 5. Develp an actin plan 6. Implement and evaluate the results.