Blog post 15 Invent

INSIGHT 11 | BOUNDARIES MATTER

Ever felt like a caged innovator?

Inspired, but boxed in by constraints.

The good news is that limits can be the catalyst, a workaround that just works.

Have you embraced the cage, or are you still fighting it?

in¹¹| Boundaries Matter

The caged innovator…Inspired by constraints

Anything can be taught, right? There’s a technique or trick for everything, a formula to follow that guarantees results. That’s why we have an education system, surely.

Perhaps controversially, I’ve always believed that an inventive mindset is instinctive. It’s an intuition that can’t be taught in the conventional sense.

That said, there is a simple formula that can be applied to awaken that inventive spirit, in anyone with the passion or the circumstance to create something new.

The perfect illustration of circumstance sits within one of my all-time favourite films, Apollo 13. Now shooting for the moon heading out into the depths of space is one thing; doing it strapped into a tin can full of temperamental electronics is quite another. But with Tom Hanks at the helm, success always feels inevitable; just check out his back catalogue. Forest Gump achieved anything he set his mind to. Private Ryan was saved. It’s Tom. It’ll be fine.

Yet despite Toms best efforts (and more importantly Jim Lovalls in the real-life version of events), fate deals out what can only be described as a very bad hand. 

It’s hard to imagine a tougher challenge than when the ground team of engineers had to create a lifesaving filter from a pile of random components found aboard the stricken lunar module. Few would have imagined the crew’s survival would depend on a sock and gaffer tape.

The Great Escape, captured on the big screen, offers another lesson in constrained creativity. In that case the innovators were literally caged yet emboldened by a sworn mission to disrupt and a burning desire for freedom. 

Perhaps both could best be described as ingenuous ingenuity, but you get the idea.

Both stories showcase the same truth: ingenuity thrives under pressure. There’s a clear distinction between invention and innovation, but both are born from constraint.

Ingenuity under pressure makes for great cinema, perfect for the big screen.But in business it often emerges from the everyday constraints of manufacturing. As Obi Wan Kenobi might say, choose wisely Luke…  

• Deploy advances in technology wisely, use where they add value not jeopardy.

• Select materials whose properties enhance your product.

• Use realistic tolerances to ensure reliable performance.

• Stay within your means, fit your budget to your needs.

Trust your instincts; let clarity be your force.