Invention is the craft of creating new products or processes. Inventors are makers as well as thinkers. Innovative behavior isn’t automatic – it must be built into daily habits.
Alex O’Connor didn’t come up with his big idea at work or in his lazy chair. Instead the idea hit him while he was out doing what he loves – surfing.
– Sealblades are the world’s first retractable hand paddles. They’re cooler in real life. –
Doing what you love can lead to a great idea, but getting that idea to market is a lot of work.
A sneak peak into Godfrey Hounsfield’s childhood would reveal a boy diving from the top of a hay mound with his home-made glider or blasting projectiles into the air using waterjet propulsion. Godfrey loved growing up on the farm, and most of all he loved the machines.
Before there was such a thing as an “engineering department” at universities, Godfrey studied electrical engineering theory and practical applications at the respected Faraday House in London. A volunteer in the Royal Air Force, Godfrey Hounsfield carried his childhood interests into adulthood, becoming skilled in electronics, radar and guided weapons systems.
Everyone has interests, but what do you do with yours? Maybe you love sports as long as you don’t have to work up a sweat. Perhaps you watch HGTV but have never handled a hammer or picked up a paintbrush.
– Robert Fulton’s steamboat started with an artist’s brush. –
Our society encourages us to consume – whether it be food, movies, apps or just “stuff.” I get it. It’s easy to consume, and it’s hard to create. But constant consumption without creation will leave us feeling empty.
Edison’s path to success was called “trial and error.” Too often we assume that going through trials means we are doing something wrong, that error is failure, and that failure is final. Success is an achievement, the result of grueling effort. Olympians are not merely gifted humans, they are persistent, disciplined and talented. Edison attributed his brilliance to hard work.
– A single bright idea looks so easy. –
You’ve seen the cars – you know, those self-driving ones that evoke so much buzz. “Tesla” is quickly becoming a household name, but before the car bearing that moniker, there was the man.
– Tesla’s demonstrations were electrifying. –
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a mad scientist, lone genius and one of the most consequential inventors of all time…
Invention fascinates us. Imagine Edison’s excitement when the very first light bulb lit up his dim laboratory. Picture Wilbur Wright standing on the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, as he watched his brother experience humanity’s first powered flight.
– Edison in his Menlo Park lab. –
Feel the frustration that drove Josephine Cochrane to craft the first dishwasher – and the thrill that it’s first users must have enjoyed!
They were Creatives. But they are not alone. . . (more…)