I described my Innovation Flow framework – the Focus, Escape & Align and Move phases. I outlined the TRIZ-based approach to innovative problem solving.

The audience were innovation leaders from various Tech Industries – Infosys, Dell etc

so many questions to answer

ART with CV

Have you herad this before? – eh your idea is really good  – it will definitely improve the situation – but implementing it is going to be difficult – i think we can manage with whatever we have right now. So thats the first clue.

If they can manage with whatever they have right now, then it is not the right time for your idea. Their frustration level / pain should be really high, just unbearable for them to accept a new idea.  Remember Newton’s second law of Inertia – ever body tends to continue to live with their old idea until there is a real unbearable pain that necessiates adopting a new idea.

The Ideal situation is when it is all useful functions only and there are no harmful functions. And all these at zero cost to everybody – doesn’t this sound very Ideal – you are right – this is the TRIZ Ideal Final Result (IFR). IFR serves as a compas during teh journey from the present painful state to the final Ideal state.

I like Ideas and I like Stickers too (I borrow them from my daughter). I am sure you have owned or still own  a sheet of stickers. What do you find there? – a nice picture, protected by a glossy cover and a sticky rear surface. Some stickers stick well and some peel off easily. You wish to stick some stickers permanently but some other you like to regularly peel off and stick in new places. Enough about Stickers. Now let us talk about Ideas.

Soem Ideas are sticky and some are not – some dont even stick during the first time. Many Ideas come without the protective cover – so the colors fade out fast. Our Ideas should have atleast three components – the fancy picture, the transparent protective cover and the adhesive. And of course, we need to find a suitable surface to stick the Sticker , er i mean the Idea, on. All three components are important for the Sticker. The Surface, for an Idea to stick, is the Problem that it solves.  The alignment of the Idea to the Problem determines the degree of adhesion between the Idea and the Problem. Without alignment, the Idea (may be a good Idea) cannot stick to the Surface (Problem). A sticker that has lost its adhesion find itself hanging on to somebody’s foot and quickly goes to the dust bin from there.

Now think about the transparent protective cover on top of the Sticker – How do you protect your Idea and still allow others to see the beauty of it ? – it is not too difficult, there is an easy way around ….

Metaphors rule our Conceptual System. As Ideas form the first significant step in the Ideation process, I looked at various metaphors that people use for Ideas  – I found a good collection in this great book – Metaphors we live by, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. I found Metaphors ranging from Fashion to Food here (Page 46-48) !!

(a)  Ideas are People – examples – Theory of Realtivity gave birth to many ideas in Physics, Einstein’s ideas will live on forever, Einstein breather new life into Physics…

(b) Ideas are Plants – examples –  My Ideas have finally come to fruitition, Thats a budding theory, The seeds of Newton’s great idaes were planted in hi syouth, ..

(c) Ideas are Commodities – examples –  You should learn to package your ideas well, There is alwaya market for new ideas, that idea won’t sell, you have given me a valuable idea..

(d)Ideas are Cutting Instruments – examples – That’s an incisive idea, He’s sharp, He has a razor wit, keen mind..

(e)Ideas are fashions – examples – That’s an outdated Idea, That Idea is old hat,  other words like chic, in vogue are alos used in thsi context

(f) Ideas are Food – examples – Raw facts, half-baked Ideas, I can’t swallow your claim, let taht idae percolate for a while, these studnets expect spoon-feeding, let that idae simmer on teh back burner for a while, taht idae has been fermenting for years…

There seems to be so many Metaphors for Ideas already, i thought it is very difficult to think of any new Metaphors – but I was pleasantly surprised this morning when…

I have coined the word Ideaing as Ideation sounds a little too formal to me. Ideaing sounds more friendly and cool to me.

If you have to take up just one idea – what would that be? What it would be like to live with that one Idea.

People use many different metaphors for Idea – sharing an idea, selling an idea, hot idea, cool idea, borrowed idea, breakthrough idea …

But the Metaphor – Idea is Life – takes Idea to a new dimension. If Idea is life then Ahimsa is not killing other Ideas.

Does Idea go through four stages of life – Brahmacharya (Learning), Grihastha (Living), Vanaprastha (Loving) & Sannyasa (Leaving)?