What is an Innovation Tool?

What is an Innovation Tool? This is a question I have been asked more than once in the last few weeks since the release of ThinkCube.

Let me start with a definition of a tool:

An implement or instrument. Anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose.   

An innovation tool is an instrument that is used as a means of accomplishing a task, in this case innovation.

What about the definition of Innovation. Innovation is a much overused term these days, there is a lot of discussion around the subtleties between similar terms:  invention, idea, creativity etc. I will keep it simple and define it as:

The creation of something new or different.

In a nutshell an Innovation tool is an instrument that is used in accomplishing the creation of something new or different.

The next question is normally along the lines of ‘How does it work?’

ThinkCube is based on a number of innovation fundamentals that I discovered through my research; they help in the creation of something new and different.

FUNDAMENTAL 1 - Innovation happens at the intersection of domains and fields. The best ideas come at 'interesting' intersections i.e. architecture and computer programming gave us ‘Design Patterns’. Introducing ideas from one domain into another, results in breakthrough ideas. Nature has been a source of ideas for thousands of years.

How does ThinkCube deliver? It has an idea library that draws from disparate fields and domains, opening up many 'interesting' intersections for the user.

FUNDAMENTAL 2 - Breakthrough ideas come from playing with ideas and forming new connections. Combination is powerful creativity technique that is used to stimulate new ideas. By combining two disparate ideas you can form new ideas i.e. a childish example would be combining a zebra and lion, you either get a zebra with a mane or a lion with black stripes. This is obviously a simplistic example, but it can be extended to form complex ideas i.e. combination of a coin stamp and wine press leading to a revolution in printing (there was a lot more to the invention of printing and why Gutenburg in the 1500’s triggered a revolution while centuries earlier other cultures had come close).

How does ThinkCube deliver? ThinkCube is based on a creativity board game where you combine words and ideas to form new ideas.

FUNDAMENTAL 3 - Incubation is a powerful and important part of any innovation process. Incubation was discovered as one of the most important aspects of innovation more than hundred years ago. Jacques Hadamard in his book 'The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field' describes Henri Poincare's discovery that incubation plays a key role in invention. Unfortunately incubation has been ignored in the new innovation processes and methods that proliferate these days. In the age of brainstorming off-sites there seems to be no room for true incubation. Through my research I discovered the power of incubation when I incorporated it into an iterative process of repeated ideation sessions. The best ideas came between the sessions. I called it the ‘1 week later syndrome’, the best ideas come 1 week after an ideation session. The best way to have lots of good ideas, is to have many ideation sessions on a regular basis, forcing periods of incubation between the intense idea generation sessions.

How does ThinkCube Deliver? ThinkCube incorporates an innovation methodology - ‘ThinkCubation’ (Thinking and Incubation) that not only includes incubation, but actually turns it from a passive step to an active process, leveraging the iterative insight of the ‘1 week later syndrome’.

FUNDAMENTAL 4 – Brainstorming is a skill to be practiced and perfected. I wrote an entire blog post about the importance of Brainstorming a while back. In summary, brainstorming is more than a ‘just in time’ activity; a 1 day off-site is not going to solve your most crucial business problems. You need to incorporate a culture of brainstorming into your everyday activities. Brainstorming like a lot of mental skills can be improved with repeated use. Anybody who has ever played a mental game realizes quickly you get better at the particular thinking technique the more you play i.e. in chess you get better at spotting certain tactics (pins, forks, skewers) the more you play. Recently there have been many advances on the research of improving thinking skills; Nintendo’s BrainAge is a game based on the work of neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima where your thinking skills are honed through thinking games.

How does ThinkCube Deliver? ThinkCube is based on a board game that provides a fun environment to train your brain on the most important brainstorming skills: associative thinking, combinatory play, breaking assumptions, looking at the problem from different angles etc.

In summary, ThinkCube combines innovation fundamentals into a practical tool to help you and your teams in the creation new ideas. Along the way you will learn about many disparate fields and domains, improve your thinking skills and most importantly have fun!

Happy ThinkCubating,