Serendipity

Courtesy Of Abram Teplitskiy

Newton then asked himself: how far does this force extend? It obviously reached peaks of mountains... But did it go beyond that? Could this force reach the moon, for example? In other words, is the moon a gigantic apple that is the earth continuously pulls towards itself with just enough of a force, that will not let it fly away or smash into earth? The establishment of the fact that earth’s gravitational pull is effective through space was the basic discovery of Newton. He stated that gravity is a universal power, which is effective throughout the universe.

The story of Newton’s apple, which leads him to his discovery, has been told for years and years, and even the toughest skeptics begin to believe in it. A German mathematician suggested this story: A dumb and unmannered person annoyed Newton with the question of how he came to his famous discovery. Newton, understanding with whom he was dealing and looking for an excuse, answered that an apple fell on his head. This satisfied the curious person and the apple story spread.

A humoristic story describing Newton’s discovery was written by Felix Krivin, a Ukrainian writer. In one of his books he said that Newton’s neighbor asked:

- Hey Isaac, how did you make your spectacular discovery, of which the whole world talks today?

- Well, it is very simple. It just hit me.

Newton and the neighbor were standing in their backyards talking across the fence.

- What hit you?

- An apple. It fell on my head from a branch under which I was sitting.

- An apple… From which tree was this branch? See, the branch that you were probably sitting under extends across the fence. The apple tree is actually in my backyard! I’ve seen you sit there many times!

- I honestly don’t know from which tree the branch was.

The next day, Newton gets home and makes his way towards his backyard, where he usually spent time pondering. Across the fence, he sees his neighbor sitting under the apple tree.

- “Relaxing?” asked Newton.

Then Newton noticed something unusual. The branch from the apple tree was sawed off! And so they sat, everyday, Newton’s neighbor under his tree, expecting an apple to fall on his head and Newton, under the sun! So Isaac did not have anything else to do but study and discover the properties of light.

To put your serendipity to work, you need to build up a list of problems that need solving, knowledge of already existing solutions, and their use in life. Only when this knowledge is existent, “chance” can do its job in creating the perfect environment for the “problem” and the “solution” to find each other. For example, “people” needed a simple device that would regulate the amount of water into a bore. The existing methods have been very complicated and costly. Information about this problem was stored in one man’s “storage of knowledge”. And when this man visited the local hardware store and saw a tightly looped spring, he almost exclaimed “eureka”! This spring turned out to be the basic solution. It really works. Water does not get through a tightly looped spring, but if the spring is extended and space appears between each loop, then water does get through (assuming that the bottom of the spring is covered). In this case, the role of chance is self-evident. There was already a great deal of knowledge stored in the brain about the problem and the requirements for the solution. Chance added the final piece to the puzzle - the image of the spring. This invention became an effective solution.

So it can be said that “inventor’s chance” is the meeting between a problem and information that can be used towards the solution of this problem.

Today, there are some methods available that increase the probability of inventor’s chance. One of these methods is the “focal method”. It is basically the use of properties of other objects towards the solution of your problem. Let’s take a closer look at the use of the focal method towards the solution of problems. Find some objects in random order… a vase with water…a light bulb…a ballpoint pen and a feather pen. Let’s now list the properties of each one of these objects:

Vase with water - made of glass, see-through, water takes the shape of the container, has a plug;

Light bulb - vacuum, electricity, off switch;

Feather pen - feather, filled with a liquid, automatic flow of ink from the container inside the feather to the tip of the feather;

Ballpoint pen - a composite body, replaceable ink container.

Now try, in order, to use the properties of these objects towards the improvement of a paintbrush. The best property is the feather’s pen automatic flow of ink from the container to the tip of the feather. Attempt to make a container with liquid paint and connect this container to the brush. The paint should flow through the brush to its tip removing the need to continuously dip the brush in paint easing and speeding up the process of painting. So as you can see, a randomly picked object helped improve the brush.

Courtesy Of Abram Teplitskiy

The expectation of a chance discovery we can compare with the illustration at the right. The probability of hitting the center of the target is very low. To increase the effectiveness of such method, brainstorming was developed in the United States. Brainstorming operates with several people - more people shoot their arrows increasing the probability of hitting the target. 

Brainstorming is a process of spontaneous thinking used by an individual or by a group of people to generate numerous alternative ideas while deferring judgment. Introduced by Alex Osborn in his book Applied Imagination, brainstorming is the crux of each of the stages of all problem-solving methods.

RULES FOR BRAINSTORMING

The recommendations below are courtesy of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and you can get more information about creativity, brainstorming, etc. on their website: http://www.uspto.gov/

NO CRITICISM ALLOWED. People tend to automatically evaluate each suggested idea--their own as well as others. Both internal and external criticism are to be avoided while brainstorming. Neither positive nor negative comments are allowed. Either type inhibits the free flow of thought and requires time which interferes with the next rule. Write each spoken idea down as it is given and move on.

WORK FOR QUANTITY. Alex Osborn stated that "Quantity breeds quality." People must experience a "braindrain" (get all the common responses out of the way) before the innovative, creative ideas can surface; therefore, the more ideas, the more likely they are to be quality ideas.

HITCHHIKING WELCOME. Hitchhiking occurs when one member's idea produces a similar idea or an enhanced idea in another member. All ideas should be recorded.

FREEWHEELING ENCOURAGED. Outrageous, humorous, and seemingly unimportant ideas should be recorded. It is not uncommon for the most off-the-wall comment to be one wherein lies the solution for the problem.

Another method of inventive problem-solving is based on analogy. This method was also developed in the United States and considers 4 types of analogies:

1. Direct Analogy

2. Symbolic Analogy

3. Personal Analogy

4. Fictional Analogy

Personal Analogy is an interesting type in which the problem-solver imagines himself being the object under examination and attempt to uncover the feelings and problems faced by the object.

Fictional Analogy - A fictional object performing the functions required by the problem is added. The inventor then tries to substitute this fictional object with a real one.

Courtesy Of Abram Teplitskiy

The methods mentioned above only intensify natural problem-solving abilities of people. In reality, the brain uses such diverse components as intuition, logic, and chance. The interaction of these tree elements is the key to effective problem solving methods such as TRIZ. Visit the Find Solutions section to gain knowledge of the basics of TRIZ.

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