Centers for IBM e-business Innovation

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How to have ideas
Centers for IBM e-business Innovation
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• Nowadays, the really hard stuff is the soft
  stuff
• Funky Business

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The nature of ideas

• One thing that all successful ideas tend to have
  in common is that they are based on some form of
  expertise, prior knowledge, experience or a
  combination of all three.

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Having an idea
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Bruce Mau Manifesto
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There are many types of ideas

• Ahead of their time Da Vincis Helicopter
• Simple the wheel
• Lucky - cats eyes
• Solutions in search of a problem non sticky
  glue
• Bad Sinclair C5
• Formats Survivor
• Profitless the Panic PIN
• Stupid Solid Gold Hat Shop
• Theoretical Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle
• Discontinuous The Internet

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But it takes more than a good idea

• These are all apparently brilliant
• Flocking Road Cones Smart Road Cones that look
  after themselves.
• Better-Smelling Air Fresheners Air fresheners
  that smell good
• Self-Powered Health Clubs All that work is going
  onand they're not USING it
• How much does it cost? Universal
  order-of-magnitude price guide
• Basic Fridge Food airport kiosks Been gone for a
  while? Get basic groceries at the airport
• Nice Guy Inc. Paid positions doing nothing but
  being nice to people
• Thanks to halfbakery.com

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Making sure its good
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Anyone who has never made a mistake has
nevertried anything new Albert Einstein
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The Unidextrous toothbrush

• This toothbrush comes in both right-handed and
  left-handed versions. It is contoured to fit the
  hand and has a depression for the thumb. The idea
  is that since you probably hold your toothbrush
  with the preferred hand, why not contour it to
  make it comfortable to hold?

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The Image Pyre

• digital scanner
• wireless transponder
• furnace
• lighter
• very cool

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The perfect idea
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There is no such thing
Every idea has a time, a place and a purpose. Its
just that not all of these things coincide as
often as we might like. But when they do, we call
this bit of luck the perfect idea.
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Staying ahead of the game
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Anyone who has never made a mistake had never
tried anything new - Einstein

• Having an idea
• Making sure its good
• Selling the idea
• Producing it
• Selling it again