Kano & Intangibles II – Case Study

Darrell Mann

Back in December of last year we started to explore the connection between the Kano Diagram and TRIZ/SI, with particular attention to the integration possibilities of Kano’s concept of ‘exciter’ and the Outcome Mapping tool. The promise at … Read More

TRIZ India Podcast- Murali interviews Darrell Mann

Murali Loganathan, a research scholar at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India had a tete-a-tete with Darrell Mann, CEO and Technical Director of Systematic Innovation Ltd. Over a few drinks, pool and lively music, Murali got Darrell to talk about

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Short Thort

Darrell Mann

Things can be correct but not true. They can be incorrect and yet be true. They can be neither correct nor true. Or they can be both. This gives us four possible kinds of … Read More

Biology – Nuthatch

Darrell Mann

Like many people who watch birds, I have my favourites. The nuthatches that feed outside my office window for instance.

Quirky little birds. Shaped like stubby cigars, with their short tails, thick necks and their characteristic racing-stripe logo. … Read More

Generational Cycles – (Generational) First Principles

Darrell Mann

Every complex problem has a thousand clear, simple wrong answers. But it also has the potential for a clear, simple correct one provided we understand the first principles from which the complexity emerges. Strauss & Howe’s generation model, … Read More

Investments – Rectenna

Darrell Mann

Imagine a world where smartphones, laptops, wearables, and other electronics are powered without batteries. Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have taken a step in that direction, with the first fully flexible device that can convert energy from Wi-Fi … Read More

Making Sense Of Fake News #2: Solution Generation

Darrell Mann

Back in October 2018 (Issue 199), the lead article reported a perception-mapping exercise aimed at coming to terms with the Fake News problem affecting most parts of the world these days. This article represents the promised follow-up to … Read More

Wow In Music – You Make My Dreams

Darrell Mann

Something of a guilty pleasure of a song for this month’s ‘Wow’ feature. “You Make My Dreams”, sometimes incorrectly referred to as “You Make My Dreams Come True”, is a song by the American duo Hall & Oates, … Read More

Patent of the Month – Fabric Supercapacitor

Darrell Mann

Our patent of the month this month takes us to Austin, and a trio of inventors at the University of Texas. US10,199,180 was granted on February 5. Here’s what the background description has to say about the problem … Read More

Best of The Month – The Private Life

Darrell Mann

In Henry James’s 1893 short story “The Private Life”, the narrator makes alarming discoveries about two members of his holiday party while holed up in a village in the Swiss Alps. After an evening spent listening to the … Read More

Managing The (Autonomous Vehicle) Unknowns

Darrell Mann

Two birds with one stone. Someone was quizzing me about my (no doubt glib) comment that innovation projects were nothing to do with Gantt charts and all about managing the unknowns. ‘Is it really possible to manage the … Read More

(Taking Out) Letters

Darrell Mann

The absence of a letter or two can make the difference between meaning and meaning more. Meaning something different, and yet somehow strangely still be connected to the original…

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Biology – Sailfish

Darrell Mann

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) is a world-record holding speed merchant twice over. Early measurements of the sailfish’s ability to move through the sea faster than any other marine vertebrate are currently the source of some challenge. What … Read More

Short Thort

Darrell Mann

Slogans & Emotions Brexit:

Trump:

Red Bull:

Related posts:

1. Best of the Month – Win Bigly
2. Not So Funny – Feedback Loops
3. Can You Have Your Cake And Eat It?

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Investments – Breath Biopsy

Darrell Mann

A clinical trial has been launched to see if a breath test could detect the presence of cancer. Researchers want to find out if signals of different cancer types can be picked up in patterns of breath molecules. … Read More

Generational Cycles – Political Impressionability

Darrell Mann

This from the Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt book, ‘The Coddling Of The American Mind’ (the one referenced earlier in the ezine in the second article):

“Here’s a quirk about American politics: the majority of white Americans … Read More

Wow In Music – Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Darrell Mann

After writing Dark Side of the Moon, their most commercial album to date, the four members of Pink Floyd were introduced to all of the trappings of international stardom. It is perhaps no surprise, therefore that the band’s … Read More

Safety & Safetyism

Darrell Mann

Last month I felt inspired to write something (Reference 1) in defence of the ‘Nanny-State’ accusations increasingly being thrown at, usually, individuals who appeared to be offering up advice over-protecting others. For example, people like celebrity chef, Jamie … Read More

The Worst of 2018

Darrell Mann

Finding bad things to write about increasingly feels like shooting large fish in small barrels with large Howitzers. That said, 2018 felt a bit like a year of flux. The focus of the rubbish-ness is shifting. Customer service … Read More

Patent of the Month – Hysteresis Bearing-less Motor

Darrell Mann

It was a close-run thing for our Patent of the Month award this month. We nearly gave the honour to US10,177,688 from a joint university/industry foundation in Korea. It offers the world the potential for a really simple, … Read More