Light up and listen to your favorite music with this miniature radio-lighter combination, only slightly larger than an ordinary lighter it contains a two-transistor radio with built-in antenna and battery.
The radio comes on when you plug in the earphone. The standard mercury cell battery makes the device last for about two-hundred hours.
Back in 1963 a laser cutting wood was one of the latest innovations. The University of Michigan had developed a tool to cut through maple and other hardwoods.
At the time cutting wood with beams of light was thought to be almost science fiction, in fact, it was described as similar to a disintegrating ray gun as described in many science fiction books.
The university’s experimental wood cutting drill operated with a laser (light amplification by stimulated electron radiation) head that contains a coiled xenon flash tube and a ruby rod.
It builds up intensely hot light pulses, focuses them through a lens to vaporize a hole in a block of wood instantly, without leaving any char or burn marks.
It was thought that one day such laser cutting wood devices wood be readily available for the home DIYer to use in his or her home workshop.
By moving the hinged side panels of this bed lamp you could direct the light to either or both sides, or shade either side so one person could read while another sleeps. With both ends inward, the lamp would provide indirect room light. Spring balls would hold the flaps in any position.
A warm welcome to the Knowledge Management Innovation section of the website.
KNOWLEDGE DEFINITION
To better understand the connections between innovation and knowledge management first let’s define knowledge:
“Knowing, familiarity gained by experience” – Concise Oxford Dictionary
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DEFINITION
Next, we should consider a definition of knowledge management:
“The process of creating value from an organization’s intangible assets, that is how to best leverage knowledge internally and externally.” – J Liebowitz
SCIENCE
You may be thinking what has science got to do with the connection between knowledge management and innovation? But science is a strong input source to innovation.
The Oxford English Dictionary has the following definition for science:
“The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.”
But interestingly it has the following origin:
“Middle English (denoting knowledge): from Old French, from Latin scientia, from scire ‘know’”
So basically science is a body of knowledge that keeps on increasing – many new scientific discoveries and breakthroughs are being made each and every year. These breakthroughs contribute to the ever-increasing body of scientific knowledge.
These breakthroughs and discoveries often additionally result in new or improved products which are innovations… For some quick examples think of solar panels, electric cars, led flat panel tv and monitor screens, etc. etc.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CLOSELY LINKED TO INNOVATION
So knowledge management and innovation are closely linked.
Knowledge management tools enable the innovation management process to move along much more quickly. They do this predominantly by making knowledge more readily available by enabling more and more knowledge to be codified or made explicit, which in turn assists with the problem-solving process.
Improved innovation can be dependent on companies developing effective internal knowledge management systems, tools, and techniques and additionally on them improving their ability to interact with sources external to their organizational domain.
Having quick, easy and up-to-the-minute access to knowledge experts or to documents detailing solutions to previously solved problems can be extremely valuable in terms of enabling teams to quickly move beyond problem obstacles that could delay the innovation project.
Knowledge is used in order to create value. Innovations provide that value as they keep customers engaged and competitors at bay.
OTHER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOPICS
If you have an interest in knowledge management then you might also want to read up on some knowledge management history. Did you know that knowledge management originated in the Second World War?
Alternatively, you might want to read about what knowledge management tools are and what components they must incorporate in order to be effective.
Or the following books from Amazon may be of interest…
Knowledge management history starts around World War II and in particular with the building of the fighter planes.
Observers were led to note that building a second airplane took considerably less time and realized considerably fewer defects than the first.
An understanding was beginning to emerge that workers learned from experience. This phenomenon led corporations in the fifties to begin to analyze and codify their observations.
Organizations understood that the better and quicker they were able to manage the learning processes, the better equipped they were to pass on the tacit understandings that form the basis of how they operate.
People were beginning to understand that knowledge management is strongly associated with the learning process.
Knowledge management history should also include a discussion of electronic knowledge management tools. These didn’t start to appear until the early nineties.
The tools were somewhat primitive in terms of the management of knowledge and could often only be described as electronic document management systems.
These systems failed to give human network interactions the opportunity to tap into the tacit knowledge held within an organization.
However, as tools of this nature advanced, (e.g. problem management systems) individuals were able to document the solutions they had provided to problem areas; this recording of knowledge with reference to the resolution of problems added value.
Recurrent, documented, problems were now being resolved; often by individuals who had no previous experience of the problem area.
The success of such tools gave rise to the notion that if you develop the process, learning will occur.
It is now understood that the learning process is highly complex and that knowledge management does not fully address the issues associated with how learning occurs. Furthermore, it does not address the question, what are the specific business outcomes resulting from such new knowledge? However, it must be recognized that knowledge management is continuously advancing towards a deeper understanding of these inherently complex areas.
Moving from knowledge management history to knowledge management today, many practitioners believe that knowledge exists and grows within a complex structure of internal networks and communities and research and analysis in this area has proved to be the most productive in terms of the development of knowledge management tools and techniques.
Recent tools have been based on observational research in terms of what people actually do, how they share knowledge and experience, and under what circumstances they keep the knowledge to themselves. Other areas include the way knowledge is used, changed, or ignored, and how knowledge is learned from others.
Chase states in The knowledge-based organization: An international survey, Journal of knowledge management:
“Futurists, economists and academics have recognised for many years that the world is moving towards a global ‘knowledge economy’. Increasingly, the ‘knowledge’ put into products or services is as valuable as the product or service itself.”
Here we have an early idea for a multipurpose tool – first published in April 1963.
These days our local do it yourself stores are packed full of many, varied, multi-purpose tools…
You could do a lot less interchanging of tools if you had this clever idea for a multi-purpose kit for a handyman job.
This kit incorporates three in one, a saw, a claw, and a hammer and all support each other. Anyone of them can be used without any changes or modifications to the setup of the multipurpose tool.
It also came with an idea for reversing the tool so that you could place chuck matched drills and screwdrivers in the handle.
Ideas like this are great for getting the creative juices flowing. What two or three everyday things could you combine to create a multipurpose device?
What about a throw-away toothbrush that comes complete with enough toothpaste for twenty or thirty brushes? Push a button at the far end to apply a perfect pea-sized amount of toothpaste to the brush head.
List some everyday items that you use regularly and start combining them.
The latest thing to hit the jukebox-set at taverns and bowling alleys is movies: three minutes of sound film for a quarter. The screen looks like any 21-inch television set; the console under it resembles an ordinary jukebox with individual panels listing forty titles and a slot for your coin.
You make your selection on the Cinebox, insert your coin, press the starter button, then sit back and enjoy the feature. A storage reel spins to the selected film. Threaded on a projector, it’s reflected on the back of a rear-projection screen through a system of mirrors.
Cinebox was developed in Italy and marketed by Cinevision Corporation, Hicksville, L.I.
In water sometimes no deeper than three inches, this 42-foot boat will cruise at 25 m.p.h. with 55 people aboard.
Propelled by two Berkeley jet pumps powered by a pair of 409 Crusader engines, it makes daily runs down the Colorado below Moab, Utah, where the water is too shallow in places for prop-drive boats.
It’s one of two cruise boats with jet drive built by Arnold Feller a professional boat builder in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The boat has a top speed of 38 m.p.h. with 240 gallons of gas and up to ten people aboard.
Case Study: The Power of a Niche Idea – Redyref’s Journey
Walter Haskins invented Redyref, a clever rack designed to hold phone books upright and accessible. His initial target customer? The obvious one: telephone companies, envisioning them in public booths. However, his pitches were met with indifference, and when he managed to place units in offices, the phone companies pressured building owners to remove them.
The breakthrough came not from the manufacturer of the phone equipment, but from a retailer and furnisher of office spaces: W. & J. Sloane. Sloane’s clientele included major corporations like AT&T. By partnering with Sloane, Haskins gained access to the ultimate end-users through a company that understood how to sell integrated office solutions. This highlights a critical lesson: target the channel that can sell to your real customer, not just the one who uses the component. Haskins’ success with Redyref demonstrates that even seemingly straightforward inventions can find massive success when paired with the right go-to-market strategy, showcasing the importance of Service Design Thinking Foundations in understanding customer touchpoints.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the biggest hurdle for independent inventors?
The biggest hurdle is often not the invention itself, but the daunting task of commercialization. This involves market validation, finding the right partners, developing a business model, and effective sales and marketing. Many great ideas fail because inventors underestimate the effort required beyond the initial creation. Exploring resources like [Lean Startup for Creative Ventures](https://innovation-creativity.com/lean-startup-for-creative-ventures/) can provide guidance.
How important is patent protection?
Patent protection is crucial for safeguarding your intellectual property. It grants you exclusive rights to your invention for a set period, preventing others from making, using, or selling it without your permission. This can be vital when seeking investment or licensing opportunities. However, the patent process can be complex and expensive, so understanding its strategic value is key.
Are there specific techniques to generate new ideas or improve existing ones?
Absolutely! Numerous techniques can spark creativity. For idea generation, methods like [Brainstorming Strategies](https://innovation-creativity.com/brainstorming-strategies/) and various [Divergent Thinking Methods](https://innovation-creativity.com/divergent-thinking-methods/) are excellent starting points. To refine or transform existing concepts, frameworks like [SCAMPER for New Product Development](https://innovation-creativity.com/scamper-for-new-product-development/) (using Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse) are highly effective for driving [Business Model Innovation Strategies](https://innovation-creativity.com/business-model-innovation-strategies/).
What if my invention relies heavily on technology, like AI?
If your invention involves cutting-edge tech like AI, understanding its potential and limitations is key. For instance, in artistic fields, tools for [AI Art Generation](https://innovation-creativity.com/ai-art-generation/) and [Generative AI for Artistic Expression](https://innovation-creativity.com/generative-ai-for-artistic-expression/) are rapidly evolving. The same principles of [Design Thinking for Product Development](https://innovation-creativity.com/design-thinking-for-product-development/) apply – focusing on user needs and iterative development, even with advanced technologies.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Martin Gilliard is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, affiliate advertising programmes designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. This site also displays Google AdSense advertisements.
You may also be interested in my other website leadership-and-development.com covering leadership and management development.
