Innovation problems

There are several examples in the literature of recent years of convincing numerical demonstrations that a compound not yet observed has a stable structure. It must be remarked that these studies usually regard compounds of marginal chemical interest, and that for innovative problems the quantum approach has always been late with respect to the experiments. This delay decreases, but it is unlikely to expect that the leadership in the search of new compounds will be assumed by in-depth calculations. 

Once you ve defined your opportunity, you can scope and focus your innovation projects. The Heuristic Redefinition technique will help you do this by identifying all the elements of your current solution and how they relate to one another. The Nine Windows technique will do this as well, adding the dimensions of time and scale to your innovation problem. Then Job Scoping is a simple but powerful technique for either narrowing or broadening your project s focus. 

Successful innovation is about capitalizing on an opportunity to fulfill unmet customer expectations in a superior way. But finding that superior way is far from easy, because at the core of most opportunities lies a difficult problem. Customers, for instance, want wrinkle-free clothes but no current solution meets their expectation very well. This is an innovation problem as well as an opportunity. 

Some resources to consider in solving innovation problems include ... 

The basic idea behind trend prediction is that evolution is not random but follows certain patterns and stages that can be predicted. If you know what these patterns and stages are, then you can solve difficult innovation problems and define technology-related strategic opportunities. 

Split your innovation problem in four ways. 

The fundamental logic of the 76 Standard Solutions is that problems can be abstracted and modeled. The models in turn have specific rules, culled from a database of similar problem resolutions, revealing the direction the inventive process should follow if it is to discover an ample solution. In other words, the 76 Standard Solutions form an empirical algorithm for solving certain classes of innovation problems. 

Exhibit 25.3 shows the general process for locating Su-Field models that may apply to any innovation problem or contradiction. Note that all... 

Different types of innovation problems require different degrees of exploitation and exploration to solve (see Exhibit 1.3).The solid boxes and lines represent the convergent exploitation of established paradigms and known knowledge, and the dotted boxes and lines represent the divergent exploration of new paradigms and fields. 

Improved employee job satisfaction, resulting in higher productivity, greater innovation, problem solving and personal ownership for outcomes. If employees respect what their employer stands for, they will stay longer, leading to lower turnover and recruitment costs, absenteeism, and illness. 

Lack of consensus on what the "innovation problem" is and how serious it is. 

There does not seem to be any "easy fix" to perceived innovation problems ... 

Innovators tend to show strikingly unique similarities in their backgrounds. Including early intellectual Independence of parents and the flexibility to generate many options. To the innovative person the thrill is in the research, and no bounds are drawn between the work and the home. Horizontal thinking is Important for innovative problem solving. 

A Framework for Developing Innovative Problem-Solving and Creativity Skills for Engineering Undergraduates... 

Author Manas Chanda takes an innovative problem-solving approach in which the text presents worked-out problems or questions with answers at every step of the development of a new theory or concept, ensuring a better grasp of the subject and scope for self study. Containing 286 text-embedded solved problems and 277 end-of-chapter home-study problems (fully answered separately in a Solutions Manual), the book provides a comprehensive understanding of the subject. These features and more set this book apart from other currently available polymer chemistry texts. 

There were exceptions, to be sure. At Purdue, R.N. Shreve wrote a well-known book in which an attempt was made to categorize organic and inorganic reactions into groups as had been done with the unit operations. The absence of quantitative, theoretical treatments made the subject seem too much like "memory work" for most students. Thus, many students had to learn from their industrial practice of engineering that, without some appreciation of chemical properties and phenomena, they were ill prepared to deal with some of the innovative problems instead of the textbook problems. 

At the same time, their case study analysis shows that firms innovative behaviour has to satisfy economic constraints, and that environmental issues are conditioned by the search for technology efficiency and effectiveness. When the government regulation defines precise standards, and imposes precise prohibitions, these are clear targets that have to be considered in the innovative activity. Hence, innovative problems encountered by firms are not within the regulation itself, but they are related to the time needed to satisfy the standards according to the regulation. 

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