Week 3 Discussion

Question 1:

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

· Review “Case: Rubbermaid” in Ch. 7 of New Products Management. See attached

· Discuss whether Rubbermaid management should use any of the concept generation techniques in addition to the methods they traditionally use. Which ones? Why? 

Question 2:

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

There is no box

We have all heard the phrase “to think outside the box”… or to be creative… but how do we accomplish this? 

Perhaps a better way to think about it is to understand one simple truth… there is no box. Society and our own fears do try to limit us but if we release ourselves from that mental cage... if we put fear aside we can truly be creative. Kids understand this lesson as no one has placed this box on them yet, kids will draw a purple tiger because a purple Tiger is cool whereas an adult may feel constrained to make that Tiger orange and black. Even Professor Einstein and Nikola Tesla tried to tap into a universal consciousness or universal knowledge as they would not be limited to the ideas in this world.    

K-12 education teaches us to regurgitate back that which has been told to us verbatim whether it is true or not and to conform to the rules of society. They teach us fear they teach us that our creativity may end up with us being ridiculed. But as adults we must come to understand that although our reality may be limited our creativity should never be. 

The box they speak of is simply fear and the greatest lesson we can learn in life is that fear is not real, danger is real but fear is a choice. When we live and think without fear creativity truly flows.

Thoughts?

Question 3:

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

Product ideation Worst Idea and Out of the Blue

 There are many forms but it all comes back to analyzing the situation looking at it from different perspectives and the following website lists a few of the best… http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2013/05/30/the-7-all-time-greatest-ideation-techniques/

 But there are two techniques I would like to discuss and that is the worse idea and out of the blue. 

 In the worse idea scenario we are asked to come up with the worst possible idea… this takes all the pressure off as no one can criticize us as we are asked to give the worst idea we can. It is designed to provide an more open and comfortable setting for innovation. 

 The other technique one that is not often discussed or widely disseminated, it is a technique use by many of the great minds of our times including Professor Albert Einstein and Nicholas Tesla. Both men would take time specifically to meditate or try to enter a dream state, both men say they were able to tap into a universal conscientiousness. Also known as the Akashic record there are those who believe there is a database of information that can be tapped by human beings.  Both Tesla and Einstein have in fact admitted that some of those amazing ideas just came to them in a flash of brilliance in fact both say they cannot take credit as the ideas were given to them. 

 Thoughts?