p.13 Creativity is the process of making order out of the seemingly random.
p.13-14 inventing is different. It is creating something new, something that was never done before. Learning
to be an inventor requires unlearning. We need to unlearn some of the constraints under which we typically approach problems.
p.23 The more specific and well defined the problem, the clearer the solution.
p.23 Constraints help to produce creative solutions... Paradoxically, the more
sharply our problem is defined, the more room we have to dream up wild ideas... Our challenge is to define the problem
in a way that gives us a very specific and clear target to aim for but does not exclude possible solutions by its specificity.
p.24 We need to define our problem with great detail and specificity in order to create a clear picture
in our minds of what needs to be solved. However, we do not want to limit possible solutions in the problem statement, nor
do we want to suggest the solution in the problem statement.
p.25 It is worth spending time to truly understand the problem that needs to be solved before trying
to generate solutions.
p.27 The process of examining and restating a problem is often a greater creative act than determining the
solution.
p.27 Looking back in time, the obvious is very easy to see.
p.28 The obvious is usually only obvious in retrospect... The inventor, much like the science fiction
writer, needs to divorce himself from the real world and imagine possibilities he has never experienced.
p.31 The inventor is like the hiker [who follows an indirect, winding path to reach his target, the mountain
peak]. In his mind's eye, he sees his destination. He believes that he possesses the wherewithal to get there. He is not sure
of the exact route - he will have to feel his way - but he is certain that he will arrive.
p.32 I believe that naivet� is one of the main keys to invention... In short, the inventor
must be both naive and supremely confident. He must believe that he can do something that has never been done before. The
courage of belief, the naivet� that he can do it, and the clear vision of what he needs to do are what the inventor must possess
in order to venture forth into the unknown.
p.33 While the inventor must be naive to venture into the unexplored, he must also have both the courage
of conviction and the courage to withstand self-doubt and doubt from peers. Curiosity stimulates imagination and thoughts
that stretch boundaries.
p.34-35 Once you can see the idea clearly in your mind, you have a place to begin. Invention often
involves what I call seeing the hidden obvious.
p.36 Needfinding refers to looking for unmet needs in society. These needs are
often not apparent until they are discovered... Needfinding is a subtle art and certainly not a science.
It requires that we remove our mental filters and see our everyday world in a completely fresh light. The
most difficult part of needfinding is discarding our existing paradigms.
p.38 we are all bounded by paradigms. Only once we are aware of the limitation can we try to move beyond
it.
p.43 When [Thomas Edison] said that invention is "98 percent perspiration," he was referring to trial and
error, dealing with failure, and the overcoming of self-doubt that challenges the inventor at every turn. The courage to continue
slogging along is essential.
p.44-45 Once you have the vision, how do you refine it? How do you develop it and give it clarity? A
good way to start - especially if the need or idea that you envision involves areas or technologies that are unfamiliar
to you - is to gain contiguous expertise. Contiguous expertise means studying subject matter
in all areas that in some way touch upon your area of focus.
p.51 We are not educated to be creative. We are educated to use our rational, conscious
minds to solve problems.
p.54 Stanford Ovshinsky, the self-taught physicist and inventor who revolutionized the use of amorphous
materials in the semiconductor industry, described a similar experience:
I have to go through what I call my war dance to invent. First, I have to know what the
problem is. Then, I do wide-range reading about the problem. And I have to work very hard thinking about it.... Once that's
done, I can do anything else - I can be at the beach, I can be walking in the woods - and suddenly, I will get the answers
I want. Then, I hurry back to my workbench and try them out.
p.54 Creative individuals have a fine-tuned sensitivity to their
subconscious and a developed awareness of how to listen to it.
p.62 Our minds automatically percolate thoughts. We inject a problem into our minds by
thinking about it. It then automatically percolates through our thought process.
Working an idea means consciously thinking about it and looking at various permutations.
Working an idea usually does not mean coming to a conclusion or a solution. You play with the idea, trying
different variations on for size. You manipulate and recast it. You let go of the idea and let it continue to percolate
in your mind. This is a process of give-and-take between the conscious and the subconscious, and it takes time.
p.86 With all the inventive genius that humankind can muster, we can never create anything as remarkable
as the natural world. What we can do is borrow from the natural world as well as learn from it... Nature
is a wonderful example of almost all that we would want to invent. We just need to be observant enough, sensitive
enough, and smart enough to distill what is readily before us.
p.97-98 The elements of invention come from a wide variety of sources. The inventor's process is
to expand his view to encompass as many sources as possible and yet be able to grasp, at the right "aha" moment, the crucial
idea and use it to form his invention... The common thread is that inventors constantly have their eyes open. They
are always on the lookout. They don't always know exactly what they are looking for, but they know it when they find it.
p.101 "Does my design reflect with absolute simplicity the essence of my idea?" "Have I solved the problem
with the utmost elegance?" "Is my solution robust enough to withstand the unanticipated?"
p.127 An algorithm is a formula or series of steps that can be used repeatedly to perform a larger
goal.
p.167 How do you know when to stop? When is the invention done? The simple answer is never.
p.193-194 Invention at its most fundamental is making things up. Children naturally tend
to imagine and create through fantasy. While this is considered normal for young children, as we grow older, this
trait is discouraged... as inventors, we must regain this childlike activity.
p.194 you need to make sure that you are fully enmeshed with your subject matter. You should wear
your subject area like clothing. It should become an obsession. This is the necessary preparation for the creative
breakthrough.
p.196 One of the great challenges of inventing is becoming comfortable with being wrong. Your mistakes
will often guide you to the correct answer, if you take the time to analyze them. Mistakes are hardly ever wasted
effort, for they serve as a form of instruction.
p.197 What doesn't work will often lead you to what does... As an inventor, making mistakes
is part of your job... If you aren't making mistakes, you aren't trying hard enough; you aren't stretching
or pushing yourself... True novelty in invention is often built on a foundation of errors.
p.197 How is it that we are unable to see something that is in plain sight? The answer is that we see, but
are unaware. The art of invention requires a heightened awareness - an almost unnatural awareness of the
potential of everything around us.
p.198 Most great inventions are obvious only in retrospect. Many of them seem absolutely crazy when they
are conceived. The hidden obvious is almost always present, but it takes the curious thinker, unfettered by convention,
to discover it.
