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Solving Problems the Soviet Way

Tonight I'm going to a PDMA event about the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), which is a Soviet method of systematic innovation.  And last night, I went salsa dancing. Believe it or not, those two very different events are connected through one of my favorite creative problem solving tactics!

First of all, what in the world is TRIZ?

In college, I was lucky enough to briefly study TRIZ in St Petersburg under a handful of the Russian masters.  It was January, the room was barely heated, I was wearing 5 layers of clothes to stay warm and we had class for 8 hours a day - and it was one of the coolest (and coldest) experiences of my life!

The whole premise of TRIZ is that by breaking a specific problem down into its underlying generic problem, you will be able to uncover solutions that would never have otherwise occurred to you.

TRIZ was developed in the Soviet Union over 2 decades by a man named Genrich Altshuller who studied 40,000+ patents in order to reveal how invention runs in patterns. And it really works.

Unfortunately, as TRIZ is geared for technical invention, many examples are hard to follow for non-engineers (like myself).  So it doesn't get a ton of buzz.

But I'm a huge fan, because it really pushes people to look at problems in different ways.

So, let me give an example of how I just used TRIZ in my everyday life.  This is about as non-engineering as you can get!  (And how I'm going to tie this post into salsa dancing.)

The Situation: Yesterday, a group of friends and I decided to go salsa dancing.  As you can imagine, salsa dancing requires a lot of twists and turns so I knew I'd need to have secure shoes that move with me.

The Problem: Egads - in reviewing my salsa-dancing wardrobe choices, I ran into a huge problem!  My sneakers simply wouldn't cut it with my sparkly-gold/black skirt.  And my cute heels wouldn't stay on if I move too fast.

Whatever is a gal to do in this terrible, terrible situation?  Compromise on fashion for the ability to enjoy myself spinning in circles?  Or grit my teeth and wear something that didn't make me feel like dancing?

Oh no! Not me!  Instead I decided to use TRIZ - the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving  to reveal a solution. (Isn't that what every innovator does in a crisis?)

Thinking like a TRIZ practitioner, I realized that I wasn't trying to find a way to hold my cute heels on while I dance. Oh no: I was actually trying to find a way to secure loose footwear.

Think those are the same thing? Not at all.

When your mind gets stuck thinking about holding on high heels, your brain automatically searches for things that are related to high heels only.  

But when you expand the parameters to securing footware, that opens up many new possibilities.

Some initial solutions I came up with:

• Glue (ouch)...
• Duct tape (ugly and inflexible)...
• Elastic bands around the arch of my foot (hard to create)...
• Shoe laces (don't work with the heels)... 

Then, as I thought of ways to secure footwear, I realized I had recently seen a solution for this exact same generic problem in another part of my life!

As a hobby, I play underwater hockey, which has a lot of quick changes in direction as the puck moves back and forth. So, even though my flippers fit well, I constantly lost them if I turned too fast.

The solution I learned about from my teammates: little rubber straps called "Fin Keepers" that hold your flippers more securely to your feet.  

The y-configuration holds the bottom and heels of the shoe securely to the top of my feet, and makes them basically impossible to lose or have slip out of place.  

Doesn't that sounds exactly like the result I was looking for with my heels?  Hmmm....

So off I run to grab the fin keepers from my gym bag so I could figure out how to mimic their success with my heels.  As an experiment, I slipped them onto my heels - and (what do you know!) they held my footware securely to my feet! Problem-solved!

The trial...

To make it even better - the black rubber almost exactly matched the black of my shoes!  In fact, from more than 2 feet away, you couldn't even tell that the fin keepers weren't actually part of the shoe!  So, instead of trying to recreate the same functionality with other materials, I just wore my Fin Keepers salsa dancing.

The Result: The Fin Keepers worked perfectly!  My shoes didn't slip an inch all night, no matter how fast I spun! (And the only reason my friends noticed I was wearing snorkeling equipment on my feet was because I insisted on showing them.)

All because I went beyond thinking about how to keep my heels on when I danced to thinking more generically about the problem...!

Now, I can't wait for the PDMA event tonight to refresh what I do know about TRIZ, and to open my eyes to how I can use it more ways in creativity.  I'll be looking for more things to share for sure.

My solution for moving without a car!

Right now, I'm over in Europe in a somewhat unique situation where I'm moving apartments every couple weeks.  Last week, I had to make my first move - all the way across the city of Biel with several suitcases and boxes.

Friends helped with my kitchen stuff and my bed, but since I ended up moving my clothes the next day, I was on my own for the suitcases.

So, here was my challenge:

I had to get two big suitcases and a couple smaller boxes from one apartment to the other.  I didn't have a car or a bus pass (and since my German is spotty, I don't even know how to find the right bus!)  I could have walked - but the apartments were at least 20 minutes apart by foot and it's exhausting to drag suitcases so far while carrying other bags. I know, because I've done it before.

So I had a brilliant idea.  I'd drag a suitcase with one arm and take my bike with the other.  Except when I tried it, that actually turned out to be a BAD idea... resulting in a major spill of my make-up bag on a major road and an old lady yelling in me in French.  Whoops!

So, I put my Masters in Creativity to  use and came up with this -->

Yup, that is me hauling my suitcase along like a trailer behind my Brompton (fold-up) bike.

And all it took was my bike, a rolling suitcase and the chain and lock I already had.

And my parents wondered if I'd ever use my degree..! ;-)

Just to prove that it actually works, a friend took a video of me biking happily along, enjoying the freedom of not having to haul my suitcase along like normal not-so-creative (or desperate) people:

 Just thought I'd share the fun in case any of you are ever in the same situation! :-)

Garbage day gets more interesting.

While looking through my bookshelf this weekend for something fun to read, I came across a book by an Ideo employee called Thoughtless Acts.  It's full of photographs of all the interesting ways people adapt the world around them to meet their needs.

While looking through the book, I was reminded of my father on garbage day.  I know that's a strange association - but he has a really funny way of bringing the garbage can back up the driveway after it's been emptied.

So, for your enjoyment (and my father's embarrassment) I taped his solution.  Take a look:

And, for those of you who are concerned, I did tell my father I would be posting this on my blog!  I didn't give him much of a choice though... ;-)

Oh, and he doesn't drive down the driveway just to get the garbage can. This is how he retrieves it when he's coming home from someplace already!

Smart Spices

 

Saw this cool new way of buying spices on Cool Hunting the other day.  Looks like someone finally realized that most ordinary people don't use full-sized containers of spices before their expiration date.

(Oh yes, spices do expire... only a couple months after opening!  This was news to me, so don't feel bad if you didn't know it either!)

The brilliant part of this idea is that it takes into account how a large amount of people really use spices, and created a product that works better for them.

Of course, it is more cost-effective to buy larger containers of spices - but only if you use them.  If you only use spices infrequently, the small containers are a much better option.

The brand is Smart Spice, and they'll be available this fall.

Do you doubt that anything is possible?

Anything and everything is possible. Do you doubt that?

Then consider that 20,000 years ago, animals were either sources of food or competitors to humans. Today many animals are daily companions that share their lives with their people.

15,000 years ago, all humans had brown eyes. Today, eyes can range in color from bright blue to green to hazel to violet.

5,000 years ago, there was no easy way to move heavy loads around. Today, almost everything that moves has a wheel.

1000 years ago, poor eyesight was an irreversible, crippling handicap. Today, most vision problems can be corrected either temporarily or permanently with glasses, contacts or laser surgery.

600 years ago, books were written by hand and literacy was only for the elite. Today, an original fiction book is published every hour.

200 years ago, the only way to capture an image was through drawings or paintings. Today, a picture can be taken with the push of a button on a camera.

150 years ago, transportation was by human or animal effort only. Today, many Americans drive more than they walk.

100 years ago, humans were bound to the ground. Today thousands of people fly around the world.

50 years ago, a computer filled an entire room. Today, many people keep one in their bedroom.

10 years ago, people wanting to listen to a large variety of music needed to carry around bulky cases of CDs. Today, a player holding thousands of songs can fit easily in a pocket.

Still doubt that anything is possible?  Just wait!

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Different ways to achieve the same goal.

One of the fun things about traveling is seeing how the little things (that take for granted) are often different overseas.

For example, take deodorant/antiperspirant.

Few Americans or Europeans will disagree that deodorant is a very important personal hygiene product.  (Definitely no one who has been on a crowded bus for 20 minutes will disagree!)

But, even though deodorant works the same on both sides of the Atlantic, it doesn't come in the same form.

	In America, deodorant is typically a roll-on solid.
	In Europe, deodorant most often comes as a spray!

Both work the same.  (Luckily!)  But, for some reason, spray deodorant has never caught on in the States and roll-on deodorant has never made a splash over in Europe.

But isn't it interesting about the the same product with the same results (and even many of the same brands), have evolved differently?

Everything can be improved. (And here's the proof.)

There are a lot of things in our everyday life that we just accept the way they are - mostly because we're so used to doing things that way, that we don't even notice inefficiencies.

But, that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement!

Tale a look at this "eating hack" as demonstrated by The 4-Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss.  I guarantee that 99% of you have never thought of peeling hard-boiled eggs like this!

Then, take a fresh look at how you do the most ordinary, every-day things.  What can you improve?

Think about the bathroom much? You should!

How often do you talk about bathrooms?

Probably not too much.  In fact, most of us would rather NOT talk about them.  Why not?  Because the subject usually only comes up when something goes wrong.

If we're lucky, it's just a lack of toilet paper.  Or someone neglected their turn to clean the bathroom.  Or the toilet isn't flushing or is backed up.  (A circumstance most of us pray will never, ever happen when we're at someone else's house!)

But have you ever thought about how much a bathroom influences our perception of a place?

At my very first job, as a restaurant hostess, our manager pulled us aside on the very first day to say, "One of the most important parts of your job is making sure that the bathroom is clean."

According to him, people judge restaurants on the shape of their bathrooms.  If the bathroom isn't up to snuff, who knows what other corners the restaurant is cutting?

A group of bloggers just did a really fascinating series on bathrooms and customer service called the Bathroom Blogfest. 

They wrote about the fabulous extra touches in a bathroom that make customers feel appreciated, how businesses ruin their image with bad bathroom experiences, how brands are moving into bathrooms, and about bathrooms that are just so cool that they're almost a destination themselves.

I promised a post as well, but my focus is more on creative ideas than the the customer experience.

But why not innovate to improve customer experiences?  That sounds like a great idea for me.

When I was traveling around Germany this summer, we spent hours on the autobahn.  So, of course, we also went to many roadside gas stations and rest-stops.

Ouch, right?  There's just something about freeway bathroom breaks that make us want to cringe.

Not in Germany though.  Those autobahn rest stops were actually pretty cool.

Why?  First of all, they solved the non-customer issue.

Gas stations and restaurants provide bathrooms for their customers.  But what about the non-customers, or the ones who buy pack of gum to reduce their guilt?  The store loses money on them.

The bathroom rest stops on the German autobahn solved this by installing a turnstile.   It cost 50 euro cents to get in.

The smart thing about this though, was that each customer received a receipt for their money that was also a voucher for the adjoining store.

So, even though the bathroom cost 50 cents, it was free for people who wanted to buy something else.

In my opinion, that's very fair and a creative solution to the problem.

The store still has a free bathroom for their paying customers, but is also providing a service for people who only want the bathroom.

Secondly, they made sure that customers had a good experience.

Of course, paying for a bathroom is only tolerated when that bathroom is clean and stocked.

Here, the German autobahn bathrooms also hit a home run.  All the bathrooms were spotless.  They had motion operated sinks and soap dispensers.  They had hand dryers.

But, the toilets were the real highlight. (I can't believe I'm actually writing that, but it's true. Watch.)

That was a motion-triggered, self-cleaning toilet!  Every time it flushes, the seat is sterilized automatically.

Laugh at my enthusiasm all you want, but I think it's a great innovation!

The absolute most important thing in a public bathroom is cleanliness.  The fact that someone spent time figuring out how to achieve this automatically so that a high-traffic rest stop bathroom stays clean... well, lets just say it made my day.

Bathrooms are not exactly the most exciting place for innovation, but they're a pretty important part of our lives.  And sometimes a simple innovation can make a big difference.

It's a good reminder that a lot of great ideas happen because someone spends time focusing on an area that most people overlook.

****

 

If you want to learn some more about the Bathroom Blogfest, head over to the Bathroom Blogfest blog, or visit the authors directly:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural

How would you get out of this situation?

Imagine this.

It's one of those moments.  It's late and you're on the way home.  Perhaps you're walking down a dark street, or waiting in the subway, or getting into your car in a deserted parking lot. 

But there you are. Alone in a darkened area.  With danger lurking on the edge of your thoughts.  Usually, there's nothing to worry about.  Usually. 

Those are the times when your mind starts to run wild with possibilities.  What if someone were to approach you?  What if there was no place to hide, and no one around to help?  What if your attacker was stronger and faster? What if?

What would you do?

In America, we're told to make a fuss.  To scream and run and fight if someone attacks us.  To yell "fire" at the top of our lungs because that is an emergency where people run to help.  To wear a rape whistle and carry pepper spray.

Not everyone does this.

For the Japanese, it's quite a different situation.  Many would rather avoid confrontation entirely.  "Making a scene would be too embarrassing."

So, in Japan, inventors are coming up with ways for people to escape a bad situation in a non-aggressive way.

Friday's New York Times actually had an article about the innovative products that nervous people can buy to protect themselves from street crime.

There's a purse that unfolds to look like a manhole cover.  Put it on the ground, and a wallet could easily escape detection.

Or knife-proof school uniforms so parents can breath easier about their children.

But, by far my personal favorite is the skirt that unfolds to look like a vending machine!

Take a look:

Some of those ideas sounds absolutely crazy to us.  Why would someone ever want to disguise themselves as a vending machine to escape?  And, many such ideas are crazy.

But I'm telling you about this article because it has a couple paragraphs that people who are interested in creativity and innovation need to read!

Columnist Martin Fackler reports:

“Japanese society won’t just laugh, so inventors are not afraid to try new things,” said Takumi Hirai, chairman of Japan’s largest association of individual inventors, the 10,000-member Hatsumeigakkai.

In fact, Japan produces so many unusual inventions that it even has a word for them: chindogu, or “queer tools.” The term was popularized by Kenji Kawakami, whose hundreds of intentionally impractical and humorous inventions have won him international attention as Japan’s answer to Rube Goldberg. His creations, which he calls “unuseless,” include a roll of toilet paper attached to the head for easy reach in hay fever season, and tiny mops for a cat’s feet that polish the floor as the cat prowls.

Mr. Kawakami said that while some of Japan’s anticrime devices might not seem practical, they were valuable because they might lead to even better ideas.

“Even useless things can be useful,” he said. “The weird logic of these inventions helps us see the world in fresh ways.”

Wow! This is a society that has nailed the perfect attitude to encourage creativity.

Inventors are willing to come up with outlandish ideas to solve problems that the Japanese people face--because they won't be laughed out of the room.

AND, people actually appreciate the crazy ideas because they know it's part of a process. 

Sounds like a marvelous environment for creativity. 

Where would you rather innovate?  In a place where people will tell you all the reasons your idea won't work, or somewhere that people are willing to give it a shot?

Download fearing_crime_japanese_wear_the_hiding_place_new_york_times.pdf

The value of this idea will come as no shock...

Do the little things drive you insane?

I love creations that make life a little simpler, or that solve a basic problem that most people face everyday.

Because most of us grumble about things that irk us, but we rarely put our money where our mouths are.

Recently, I wrote about how Ikea's flexible ice trays have dramatically reduced my cold-drink-related stress.  No more ice cubes down the drain, no more broken trays, no more ice flying dangerously through the air.

I can finally (gasp) add ice to a glass without feeling like an incompetent nincompoop!

Well, here's another solution to one of those daily annoyances that most of us usually just put up with.

Ta Da! Rotating electrical outlets.

Obviously this isn't the sexiest innovation out there, but it doesn't have to be.

Why?  Because I bet most of you took one look at it and thought "Hey, I know exactly where I could use one of those!"

Thanks to Sparkbugg for alerting me to this!  If you want it too, go buy your own rotating outlet here.