Edison and Innovation Blog

Over the past year and a half we have researched the lives of more than 100 innovators. It has been a fascinating and rewarding exercise. We have learned a lot about innovation, business and leadership. One key thing we have learned is that if you had to pick one innovator who stands out above the rest, it would be Thomas Edison. This blog will explain some of the reasons why Edison’s life is such an important source for learning about innovation.

1. Edison innovated in different fields – Edison’s successful inventions were in multiple fields.  For example, he dealt with electricity, such as the light bulb, devices with electric motors and improvements to the telegraph. He created the phonograph, which has no electrical parts, and he made improvements to the telephone. He was a pioneer in the motion picture industry and also worked with iron ore separation.  Any innovator will improve their chances for success by becoming familiar with Edison’s work no matter what they are innovating.

2. Edison did not just create new products, he created entire industries – When Edison created an invention he often had to create the supporting infrastructure and the related industry. For example, once the light bulb was created he still had to create the electrical distribution system. This included everything from power generators to the electric meter so he would know how much to bill each customer. The phonograph and motion pictures required that the product be played or viewed. Edison also had to create everything from recording and motion picture studios to the distribution systems to get these materials to the public. Studying Edison in this area not only provides insight in inventing, but also in taking the invention to market, even if you have to create the market yourself.

3. Edison not only had great success, he had great failures – Edison did not have a perfect record with his inventions.  However, he just kept right on going no matter the setback. He tried to build concrete homes, got involved in iron ore separation, and created a very scary doll. None of these ventures were financially successful. He also struggled in picking the right music to be distributed with the phonograph.  His deafness probably didn’t help in this area. The mistakes he made provide us with a lot of opportunities to learn about innovation, even if we only learn that a mistake is often a step in the right direction.

4. Edison left a wealth of materials for us to learn from – Edison kept extensive records by writing everything down.  He also encouraged those he worked with to do the same. He left literally millions of pages we can study. This gives us an enormous opportunity to learn innovation from the master.

These are just a few examples of why Edison can teach us about innovation. It has been said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. With Edison the opposite is also true, those who are willing to learn from history will be able to repeat Edison’s success.

The role of visual thinking in the process of innovation cannot be overemphasized. This is another reason why we demonstrate the ease of learning to draw at the Edison Event. Keeping a record of creative ideas and drawing them when it makes sense will help anyone move forward along the path to becoming more innovative.

Paul Israel’s Edison Papers Project sponsors a website and a Newsletter from which we took the following:

Eugene S. Ferguson (1916-2004), a pioneer in the subject of the importance of visual thinking in technology and a successful engineer, scholar and teacher of engineering, suggested that “Pyramids, cathedrals and rockets exist not because of geometry, theory of structures, or thermodynamics, but because they were first a picture — literally a vision — in the minds of those who built them.”

Then Paul’s newsletter added, “Hundreds of thousands of sketches left by Edison and his associates make an impressive record of such thinking, and their existence is no accident. At only twenty four years of age, in 1871 Edison wrote, ‘I have innumerable machines in my Mind now which I shall continue to illustrate & describe day by day when I have the spare time.” He kept at it for sixty years more!’” (The Edisonian, Vol.2, Issue 1, Winter 2007.)

Good luck with your sketches….

The Blog was originally posted August 11, 2010

Clever ideas and innovations can appear very similar at first glance.  The difference is whether the new product, process, or procedure has utility in the market.  Or to put it in a more simple way, will anyone use it?  Sounds straightforward enough, but is it?

 We all live and breathe our innovation.  It becomes our creation, our child.  Edison sometimes referred to his inventions as his children.  This can create a danger, a danger that we will not be open to criticism and that we won’t listen to others.  Sometimes we don’t even listen to the end user, the person who will use the innovation.  What to us may be a great improvement, to them may be a scary new way to replace the old tried and true approach.

The following video illustrates how difficult change may be to the end user.  After you see this, we hope you remember to innovate with the end user in mind.

Do you have what it took to work with Thomas Edison and become one of his Muckers? Edison had a test for some of his new employees that was very extensive. Today, some even call the test eccentric. The test covered your knowledge in your area of expertise as well as some general knowledge questions. For example a mason would be asked, “How many cubic yards of concrete in a wall 12 by 20 by 2 feet?” And everyone was asked questions like, “Who was Francis Marion?” or “What city in the United States is noted for its laundry-machine making?”

What really impresses me about these questions is that they required a depth of knowledge in the employees’ speciality but also required a broad, almost “Jeopardy” level of understanding in other areas. Such a breadth of understanding is a key to innovation. Many people are experts in their own field, but do they have enough experience in other areas to find new solutions? Edison would often take what was done in one discipline and apply it in others. As we innovate, we need to look for people who have a broad understanding to help explore new areas and find undiscovered solutions.

So, spend some time learning new things outside of your profession or area of expertise. It may help you find the very innovation that you’re looking for.

(To begin expanding your knowledge while learning more about Edison’s test click here)

What are the barriers that are keeping us from innovating? How do we push through these barriers? While there are external barriers, most of what we must push through is in our own minds. These are the obstacles that we can best attack. This first short video shows that the line between art and engineering may only exist in our minds.

So, if the barrier exists in our minds how do we break through it? How do we improve? A first step is to identify the barrier and then find a creative way to move over, under, around or through what is stopping us. This second video from Tom Schmitt, President and CEO of FedEx Global Supply Chain Solutions, illustrates how we can do this in a practical way, by combining our analytical and creative sides or reaching out and getting help.

This blog was originally posted January 4, 2011

American Idol, The Next Iron Chef, X-Factor and shows like this have become incredibly popular.  Many different countries around the world have their own show to see who has the most talent and the winner gets a prize and an opportunity to be successful.  Wouldn’t it be great if there were contests like this for innovation?  Imagine millions of people watching and voting every week to see whose innovation would reign supreme.  Well these types of contests do exist, minus the nightly TV show and the commentary by Paula Abdul.

One of these is called America’s Next Top Energy Innovation Challenge.  The voting is now closed, but this contest pitted several different start-ups with different types of innovations.  (To learn more about it click here)  This contest and others like it are great.  They help move innovation along and provide focus and incentives to the innovator.

Unfortunately most of us that are working on innovating are not going to be in a contest.  Nobody is going to create a reality show about our work and follow us around.  Edison stated, “I always invented to obtain money to go on inventing.” His focus was on the innovation and his success was a byproduct of his efforts.  We can gain a lot by following this principle, focus on our innovation and let our success be a byproduct of our efforts.  You don’t have to win a contest to be the next top innovator.

My son was recently in the musical production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at his junior high school. I went to one of the evening performances and was very impressed with the production. After I returned home, I realized that I had not only seen a great production (put on by 11 and 12 year olds), but I had also been introduced to a great innovator, Willy Wonka.

As you may remember, the fictional character Wonka was the greatest choclatier in the world. He was not only creative but had built a large successful company. He embodied two of the great aspects of innovation. He created new products, and he was able to take them to market.

One of the songs in the play is entitled “Pure Imagination”. What a wonderful idea. It was Wonka’s ability to spend time in pure imagination that allowed him to innovate. And the time he spent in his imagination fueled his innovation. The crazier and more outlandish the idea, the more time Wonka spent exploring it.  After I found the words to the song, I came up what I believe is part of the definition of pure imagination.

Pure Imagination
1. No limits to the possibilities
2. If you want to see paradise simply look around.
3. If you want to change the world, there is nothing to it.  Do it!

I have included two versions of the song for you to look at. The first is from the original movie musical. The second is a more modern version with words to follow as you listen. After viewing these, take some time and tap into your underused resource of Pure Imagination.

And if you like your Pure Immagination with a Rock Edge Click here.

Buzzwords and catch phrases have become part of our business culture. Often they express a complex thought or idea in a few words. Unfortunately, when used too often or when spoken without the performance to back them up they can become cliché or even counterproductive.

One of the phrases that I love and hate the most is “Thinking outside the box.” It expresses a very important idea for business and innovation. The ability to see new solutions to our problems outside of what we or anyone else has been doing is very important and a characteristic of many of the great innovators. But this phrase has been used so often with no performance, that it no longer has the meaning it should have.

IBM illustrated the problem this way:

So what’s the solution? How do we avoid having buzzword bingo played in our organization? The answer is simple in explanation, but often difficult in execution. We have to talk less and perform more.

Edison illustrated the soulution when he stated, “I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing.” Showing that we can think outside the box will do more for our group or team then telling them that it is important. So let’s go out and perform with a “little less talk and a lot more action.”

This blog was originally posted November 30, 2010.

As a manager or as an organization do you reward innovation? If you ask anyone this question the answer will always be yes. But is this answer true or have we created an environment that talks about innovation but does not reward truly reward it?

Instead of asking the question about innovation, let us ask it about risk. Do we as a manager or an organization reward taking risks? Risk sounds scary. If we take risks we are going to fail sometimes, but is that a bad thing? Edison said, “Every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.” To innovate we have to take risks, make mistakes and learn from them.

Now back to the original question. Do you reward taking risks and being innovative or do you reward playing it safe and maintaining the status quo? Take a look at the following short video and see if this resembles your organization. The answer may surprise you.

Last week new efficiency standards went into effect for light bulbs. Edison’s invention that brought light to the world has new standards that will eliminate his old bulb and replace them with new more energy efficient bulbs. These standards have created some controversy and I have wondered what would have Edison felt about the new government standards? I was not sure that he would have liked them, but then I read an article by Thomas Edison’s great-grandson entitled, “Edison would’ve love the new light bulb law.”

The article makes a number of points but the one that really sticks out to me is if Edison was alive today, he would be in his laboratory trying to invent a better and more efficient light bulb. Edison continually strived to improve on what he invented and was never satisfied. One of my favorite Edison quotes is, “Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.”

So look around and see what you have stopped innovating, but yet could be improved. Maybe it is time for you to re-innovate your light bulb.

To read David Edward Edison Sloane’s insightful article, “Edison would’ve loved new light bulb law” Click here  We think you’ll find it very interesting.