The Task Unification Technique is great because it generates novel ideas that tend to be novel and resourceful. It’s one of five techniques in the SIT Innovation Method. Task Unification is defined as: assigning an additional task to an existing resource. That...
Here’s a nice example of the Attribute Dependency Technique, one of five in the innovation method called Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT). It’s a great tool to make products and services that are “smart.” They adjust and learn, then adapt...
Think about how often you push buttons during the normal course of a day, at home, in our car, and elsewhere – elevators, crosswalks, and so on. Did you ever stop to wonder how many of those buttons you push don’t actually work? It’s called a placebo...
Who would use a cashless ATM? It seems like a ridiculous idea, because that’s the whole point of using an ATM – getting cash. That will all change with the RTM (Retail-Teller-Machine). It works just like an ATM. Instead of dispensing cash, the RTM prints a...
One way you can use the Task Unification Technique is to make an internal component take on the function of an external component in a Closed World. In effect, the internal component “steals” the external component’s function. Five universities in the United Kingdom...
As a teacher, it’s always rewarding to see my students create ideas that eventually make it into the marketplace. Here are some great innovations for the kitchen oven that a group of students created last year, January 2014. Later, we’ll compare these to...
