Futuring and Innovation: Think Tank Methods II - Game-Changing Ideas

  

Futuring and Innovation: Think Tank Methods II

Raphael Brown CS875 U4IP

Date Due: 03/27/22

 

Game-Changing Ideas

A person may have a life-changing event that alters the landscape. When they notice something extraordinary that others miss, it's an "ah-ha" moment. It is magic that transforms a person from average to extraordinary (Myatt. 2010). In this paper, I will undertake a fast search for two game-changing concepts that explain the societal effect of a company's transformation. With the help of the supporting forces, these two unintended game-changers will be examined.

Source: Adapted from Gamechangers.com, (n.d.)

What are some game-changing ideas and their process?

     As a rule, a game-changing idea alters how something is done by mistake. Parental leaves of absence for the care of an infant, such as maternity or paternity leave, are typical examples. When a child is born, parents in the United Kingdom are legally entitled to two weeks of paid leave from work. People who don't have children are now seeking maternity/paternity leave. In the industry, we refer to it as "me-maternity." As a result, this proposal might be yet another game-changer.

Folch (2013) believed that game-changing ideas begin with an unwillingness to accept the current state of affairs. For him, coming up with new ideas is a five-stage process. They are as follows:

A. Idea generation.

Using fresh information is the basic concept that is developed and expanded upon

B. Distillation is the second step.

Eliminating unnecessary ideas and retaining fundamental concepts is the goal of distillation.

C. Extending the search

This is when a game-changer concentrates on refining and building on a select number of crucial sub-ideas.

D. Inquiring about preconceived notions

Assumptions established when this notion was first conceived are called into question by the game-changer

E. Micro-tests

Finding techniques to rapidly and inexpensively test potential "deal-breaker" assumptions is the focus of this phase.

Repetition of these five processes will increase the overall idea's resistance to being broken or enhanced to promote creativity.

Game-changing stories

            A quick search on the Internet and in the C.T.U. Library yielded twenty goods born out of game-changing ideas discovered by chance and that communicate the societal effect of change. The following are two examples of game-changing concepts:

1. Complements like matches

Perhaps people have been experimenting with fire for hundreds of thousands of years. Still, no one was more successful than a British chemist named John Walker, who attempted to clean his stirring spoon when he discovered a faster technique to ignite a fire.

When John Walker discovered a dried lump on the end of the stirring stick while mixing a pot of chemicals such as sulfur and phosphorus in 1826, he immediately began to investigate. In attempting to scrape off the dried gob, it suddenly ignited. He dubbed the first strike-able matches "friction lights," He created them in a bit of box with a piece of sandpaper, three inches long, before selling them to a local bookshop. Because Walker was unconcerned about patenting the invention, his buddy Samuel Jones replicated the matches, packaged them in a smaller cardboard box that could be easily slipped into a pocket, and marketed them under the name "Lucifers." In 1805, the French scientist Jean Chancel produced the world's first self-igniting match. One of his matches was made from a wooden splint soaked in sugar, while another was made from potassium chlorate dipped in a tiny container of strong sulfuric acid. The chemical combination that produced a yellow, odorless gas called chlorine dioxide, which bursts when it comes into touch with anything, is both harmful and unpleasant.

According to the New York Times, Johan Edward Lundstrom has developed matches made of non-poisonous red phosphorus. The Diamond Match Company is currently the first company to offer "safety matches" in the United States, relinquishing their patent rights and allowing all match firms to create safe matches.

2. Cones for ice cream

The cornet, also known as genuine ice cream, is a cone-shaped edible ice cream container. Its creation remained a mystery and an accident, which fueled controversy. When ice cream costs fell dramatically in the early 1900s, the product became more popular. Ice cream sellers lined the streets of cities throughout the United States and Europe. Flavors of ice cream were up for grabs and how they arranged the ice cream in the container. Ice cream was often served in cups, plates, glasses, paper, glass, and metal containers. Customers would pay a dime to lick the glass clean before returning it to the seller after they had finished eating the ice cream flavor of the day scooped into it by the vendor. In addition to being unsanitary, people were shattering the glasses or accidentally walking away with them while eating ice cream. In 1902, Antonio Valvona submitted the first patent in the United Kingdom for an edible ice cream cup. In 1903, an Italian immigrant named Italo Marchiony filed another patent in the United States for an ice cream bowl.

Historians who disagreed on the origin of the cone-shaped ice cream holder noted that there were 50 ice cream sellers and waffle shops during the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis to commemorate the centenary of the Louisiana Purchase, which was held to mark the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. As a result of the scorching temperature, ice cream seller Arnold Fornachou ran out of paper cups and paper plates. Ernest Hamwi, a vendor of "zalabia," a waffle-like pastry, sought to assist Fornachou by wrapping up one of his waffle pastries and presenting it to Fornachou, who filled it with ice cream to make it more appealing. As a result of this occurrence, the first ice cream was sold. Other sellers followed suit, and each of them claimed that they were the ones who came up with the game-changing concept. During the festival's commotion and bustle, no one could say for sure who was the first to create the cone. Many patents for "waffle-rolling" devices were submitted after the fair, and merchants continued to claim credit for this unintentional innovation in 1904.

Forces that aid

            Myatt (2010) outlines a three-step process for creating an ah-ha moment:

A.    Unwavering dedication to one's goals:

 Because game-changers aggressively pursue game changers, they come up with the proverbial big idea. For them, nothing less than extraordinary is acceptable.

B.    Put your spin on things.

The status quo is not acceptable to game-changers. They put all of their energy into upending the established order. Organizations led by game-changers refuse to conform to traditional wisdom and bureaucracy. A fantastic way to be unique is to make the originals fresh and distinct (Grant, 2016).

C.    Decide on a particular goal.

Intrinsic and extrinsic curiosity are essential to game-changers success. They are aware of the importance of contributing to something greater than themselves.

Various factors may support a game-changing notion, including human behavior and culture, the economy, and technological innovation. Matches and ice cream cones from game-changing concepts seem to have come about by accident in a sudden certainty.

Inventions like the strike-able matches are fueled by human behavior and culture. People want to improve their quality of life and the environment when they live in a society where innovation is valued. As a British pharmacist, John Walker found the flammable substance by scraping it off of his equipment. Curiosity is the driving factor behind this game-changing device, which aims to make human existence more straightforward and comfortable.

Human curiosity and economics are the driving forces behind the birth of ice cream cones. There were no more cups or glasses to carry ice cream in hot weather at the festival, so the game-changing notion of utilizing a funnel-shaped pastry roll to contain ice cream was fantastic and straightforward. This game-changing idea is a massive success because of work's behavioral and economic forces.

Source: Adapted from linkedin.com, (2015)

Synopsis

It briefly reviewed implementable game-changing concepts, the iterative 5-step process, and two game-changing tales (i.e., matches and ice cream cones) resulting from mistakes or accidents. A practical framework for accident innovations relies on a commitment to pursue, a desire to be unique, and a defined goal. Human behavior, economics, culture, and curiosity all had a role in developing these accidental creations. A list of all the references appears on the final page of this document.

 

References

Cyran, P. & Gaylord (2012). The 20 most fascinating accidental inventions. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from

http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2012/1005/The-20-most-fascinating-

accidental-inventions/Ice-Cream-Cones

http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2012/1005/The-20-most-fascinating-accidental-inventions/Matches

Folch, M. (2013). How to generate game-changing ideas. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from

http://www.marcfolch.com/

Grant, A. (2016). T.E.D Talks: the surprising habits of original thinkers. Retrieved

on March 18, 2022, from http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_grant_the_surprising_habits_of_original_thinkers

Myatt, M. (2010). 6 steps for creating a game-changer. Retrieved March 19, 2022 from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/10/10/how-great-leaders-create-

game-changers/#4205fdea7ea0