One of the most amazing benefits about blogging is the incredible and interesting people who I meet as a result.
Just yesterday, I ran into Chuck Frey of Innovation Tools on Facebook (many thanks to
Kes Sampanthar, inventor of the Think Cube, for introducing us).
Well, Chuck recommended a couple of his favorite articles of mine on his blog, and I thought I'd chime in with a couple of my personal favorites as well.
Chuck liked:
- True or false: Customers are a great source of ideas
- When it's not worth innovating for more features
- What products drive you insane and how could they be improved?
- Does thinking of customer service as a negative blind companies to new opportunities?
Here are a couple of posts that I love:
- How to take an idea to the next level
- Are your laptop's new features good for you?
- Can a new idea be too far ahead of its time?
- Thinking backwards can actually be quite brilliant.
- The path to failed innovations
BUT, by far, my absolute favorite posts of all time were the two where I shared your ideas for my Random Word Contest!
For those of you who weren't here, I challenged everyone to come up with ideas for how to improve a car. But they weren't allowed to just spout off whatever ideas popped into their head--they had to draw a completely random word from my generator, and come up with ideas related to it.
I know, sounds like a horribly mean thing to do. I even tortured contestants by giving out words like "mermaid" and "ravioli" and "bubble"! But, just as I expected, everyone did a fantastic job.
There were so many great and fresh ideas that it took two posts to list them all. If you get a chance, I HIGHLY recommend taking a look.
- Ways to Improve Cars - Ideas from the Random Word Contest (Part 1)
- Ways to Improve Cars - Ideas from the Random Word Contest (Part 2)
In fact, thinking about the contest has gotten me all excited about doing it again. It will take me a little time to get everything organized, but look for my next contest at the end of this month.
(That will also give everyone a chance to find their thinking caps!)
By the way, if you want a special reminder from me about the contest, leave a comment below.

OK Katie - please remind me for the next contest!
P.S. regarding car ideas... and the Onion by Chris Johnston;
Check it out- SmartCar has an interchangeable "skin" to allow for this option ...coming soon to a theatre near you !
Posted by: Bob Van Leeuwen | November 05, 2007 at 07:57 AM
OK Katie - please remind me for the next contest!
P.S. regarding car ideas... and the Onion by Chris Johnston;Check it out- SmartCar has an interchangeable "skin" to allow for this option ...coming soon to a theatre near you !
Posted by: Bob Van Leeuwen | November 05, 2007 at 07:57 AM