Not So Funny – 3D Stupid

Darrell Mann

The 3D-printing revolution is in full swing. We can now 3D-print just about anything. Including a few things we probably shouldn’t.

For some reason food seems to be an early target:

I think my favourite is Mobius-Bacon…

… Read More

Not So Funny – 40 Inventive Nature Principles

Darrell Mann

1. Segmentation 2. Taking Out 3. Local Quality 4. Asymmetry 5. Merging 6. Universality 7. ‘Nested Doll’ 8. Counterweight 9. Prior Counter-Action 10. Prior Action 11. Prior Cushioning 12. Remove Tension 13. ‘The Other Way Round’ 14. Spheroidality/Rotation … Read More

Not So Funny – I Fought The Law…

Darrell Mann

As we all know, innovation starts with breaking rules. The Laws of Physics, for example, make for very good rule-breaking innovation opportunity-finding targets. Except out-thinking people like Einstein can sometimes be hard work. For easier to find dumber … Read More

Not So Funny – Merging

Darrell Mann

We’ve had occasion to examine the power of Inventive Principle 5, Merging, several times in the past. The trick with using this Principle is to find combinations that are non-obvious, but at the same time where the elements … Read More

Not So Funny – You Had One (Principle 17) Job

Darrell Mann

No shortcuts. It should be everyone’s mantra. Like these people:

…especially important when kids are involved…

…so they grow up to be the kind of public servants we need them to be…

…always ready … Read More

Not So Funny – Double Standards

Darrell Mann

We live in a strange world. Usually, these days, a world in which we’re all forced into personalized filter bubbles that makes us less and less able to empathise with people holding views different to our own. Irony … Read More

Definitely Not Funny – The Iron Law Of Unintended Consequences

Darrell Mann

Not so long ago I proposed a new rule: No-one should be allowed to run for public office or work in a management position unless they’ve successfully passed a Complex Adaptive Systems 101 course.

If we don’t understand … Read More

Not So Funny – (WD-) 40 Inventive Principles

Darrell Mann

All hail the mighty WD-40. If there is ever going to be a 41st Principle, WD-40 will very likely point the way. Or it might actually be Principle 41. Meanwhile, it is already all of the 40 we … Read More

Not So Funny – Pet Rock Redux & Other Barely Essential Luxuries

Darrell Mann

One thing I’ve never been able to properly forgive my parents for is their refusal to let me have a pet-rock when I was a boy. Spool forward 35 years, and it got re-launched as the USB version. … Read More

Not So Funny – TRIZ Before TRIZ

Darrell Mann

TRIZ research started after the Second World War. The ethos of the research originated around the reverse engineering of successful patents and inventive solutions. What’s less clear is whether there was any parallel inverse research to establish whether … Read More

Not So Funny – Literally Principle 12

Darrell Mann

Principle 12, Equipotentiality, is all about removing tension within systems. When someone is given an instruction and they don’t follow it precisely, we could interpret their discrepancy as a tension. Which is a bad thing. Consequently, we should … Read More

Not So Funny – Discarding & Recovering

Darrell Mann

There is just something about the way kids take pictures that is pretty funny. The only thing that might be funnier is when adults decide they want to take those same pictures, decades later. As weird as kids … Read More

Not So Funny – Freudian Slippers

Darrell Mann

Freudian Slips. When you say one thing but mean your mother. So the old cliché goes. Freudian slips reveal contradictions. Or their resolution. Are they Inventive Principle 9, Prior Counter-action? Or Principle 10, Prior Action? Or maybe Principle … Read More

Not So Funny – Principle 8, Counterbalance

Darrell Mann

“Where the weight of an object or system causes problems, combine it with something that provides lift.”

Or:

“When an entity or system deviates from a desired path, introduce protocols or forces that provide a re-stabilising … Read More

Not So Funny – Quite (Principle 33) Literally

Darrell Mann

No-one likes a smart-arse. The battle is rarely more intense than the one between teachers and their students…

…more often than not, the pupils tend to be the more persistent…

…some of whom get to grow … Read More

Not So Funny – Another, Another Dimension

Darrell Mann

Inventive Principle 17. Another Dimension. One of the lesser used Inventive Principles. Getting away from straight lines and planes. Simple to say. Not always so simple to interpret. Although, when we can we can get some of the … Read More

Definitely Not Funny – A Food Contradiction

Darrell Mann

Once upon a time, a clever person in the coffee industry realized there was a problem. ‘How come’, they said to themselves, ‘all coffee tastes pretty much the same? Why can’t we make it taste better?’ And the … Read More

Not So Funny – Cat Rheology

Darrell Mann

If in doubt, revert to cute cat pictures. Especially ones where the subjects have squeezed themselves into confined spaces. The Internet is full of them. Principle 29 rules.

But then, it turns out, the subject is deemed worthy … Read More

Not So Funny – Bad Punctuation

Darrell Mann

Punctuation can be a tricky beast. Too much. Too little. Wrong place. Wrong type. So many potential mistakes. So many Inventive Principles:

Principle 1

Principle 2

Principle 5

Principle 16 (with a … Read More

Not So Funny – Feedback Loops

Darrell Mann

Feedback loops are an essential element of any and all complex systems. Its always a good idea to understand what loops are in place. And which new ones you can create.

2017 has been a year of some … Read More