Is there a Drone in your future? Hints on innovating

Posted on Jan 29, 2013 in creativity and innovation, innovation, inspiration, new ideas | 0 comments

Drone_xaircraftDrones are the future says Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of Makers, The
Long Tail and Free: The Future of Radical a Price. The video clip below shows him talking about how easy it is to make them, so wouldn’t you think they’d proliferate over time?

I’m not sure, I keep seeing a very cluttered sky, and people balking at their use.  Still, if they could suck out air pollution, now that would be cool. What other uses of drones come to your mind? (click on the photo to get to DIYDrones.com. Fascinating inventions.)

Innovation Hints: Imagine applying these questions to your current challenge

In Makers, the New Industrial Revolution Chris writes about how the world is changing away from big box producers to individuals, Makers. For you MBTI® instrument enthusiasts – here’s an additional question for you… does this post describe sensing creativity or iNtuiting creativity?  Hm?

He says that all an entrepreneur needs these days is a computer and a credit card.  As an example he describes how he innovated on sprinklers. He took look at what already exists, pretended he could fix challenges and invented ways to do so. He asked:

  1. How would the product be improved if they were connected to the internet?
  2. How would the product be improved if the designs were open, so anyone could change or improve them?
  3. How much cheaper would they be if manufacturers didn’t charge for their intellectual property?

What resulted?  A sprinkler system operable from a smart phone, set up through a website, that anticipates weather conditions and starts when the timing is just right.

What if you were to use the same questions on what you are currently working on?  What innovations might you imagine and then make real?

These are just some of the insights from his book – well worth a scan…

Marci Segal, MS, Creativity and Change Leadership: Freeing leaders’ thinking so they can create new futures.

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