Skill #8: Copy by Observing People Simply observing what others are engaged in can help us innovate to remove an obstacle that has been preventing us from achieving a goal. Understanding more generally what people are doing in a particular situation opens up other specific applications for the overarching behavior…

Skill #7: Copy by Observation or Create Through Generation While a difficult problem is daunting when it first reveals itself, a valuable starting point is to know that there are two reliable options for tackling it. One is to copy a solution that successfully solved a similar problem and the…

An enlightened view of all resources that exist and the latent value that can be innovatively released from them is a mindset that greatly facilitates personal idea generation. Seeing everything — even waste — as an undervalued resource shapes the required thinking. …

Skill #5: Visualize an Unequal Input-Output Equation to Guide Your Efforts Having an appreciation of the physical input-output equation outside of its setting in nature reveals that if unequal outcomes are possible, then it should be possible to generate a beneficially unequal result through innovative human intervention Folklore has it that we tend to get out of life what we put…

Skill #4: Install ‘Small Effort — Big Result’ as the Litmus Test for Innovating To harness the ability to innovate, you must cut through the beguiling appeal that innovation promises. Settle on an understanding that is of practical use. Knowing with unmistakable clarity what the end game is — small…

Skill #3: Navigate the Idea Universe* The vastness of the cerebral expanse that ideas inhabit demands calculated, personal focus if they are to be engaged with beneficially. Ideas that can solve business problems are a worthwhile target, especially if they do so disproportionately well. …

Skill #2: Understand What You Can Do The art of having an innovative idea defies precise formulation but it can be meaningfully practiced. This is done by intercepting the normal, unpredictable trajectory of serendipity and by employing strategies that are inherent in innovative ideas that have already succeeded. Although I’ve…

[SEE COMPLETE LIST OF SKILLS BELOW] Skill #1: Appreciate the Full Scope of the 31 Skills The essence of being innovative is that you achieve something whose tangible value significantly exceeds the effort you put in. …

Serendipity is inherently appealing because its outcomes are inevitably pleasant. But although it is nice to have around, it is almost impossible to channel because those outcomes are usually the result of a lucky accident. However, it can be harnessed if you deliberately prepare your mind Three Princes of Serendip …