Okay. “So You Have An Invention - So What?”

So -- what - if you don’t have an invention - but would really like to? In other words - how does the inventive process work?

First - let’s look at the definition of the word invent:

Invent = create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of : as in - he invented an improved form of the steam engine; or, modernly, she came up with a new form of computer chip.

INSIDE PROCESS - OUTSIDE BOXES - WOO-WOO

Invention means using your inside brain processes and then thinking outside the box - creating a new way of thinking, or processing, or making something new - which a lot of times creates a new process in the public collective mind of - “why didn’t I think of that?” The inventor does think of “that,” “this,” “them,” “those,” “how, what, when, where and why,” and generally, in a different way from everyone else.

Now, the inventive process can get kind of spooky too. It is like all these ideas are really just floating out there in the ethers and one mind (sometimes two or more) just kind of globs onto the idea like a dreamcatcher and develops it.

The reason I say that is through the experience of more than once having an inventor come to me with an idea that sounds truly original - only to do a patent search and find that the same idea was “pulled out of the ethers” at the same time by someone else - even from somewhere across the world. I’m talking down to the same date and time in some instances. It becomes truly strange .... but that is part of the process.

I am convinced that there are mind waves - quantum quarks - parallel universes - whatever - that humans pull from to create. Why else would test takers throughout a state, when writing an essay exam, come up with the same phrases - a lot of times, word for word. The particular exam I refer to is kept in complete secrecy - equal to the Bush administration - so there cannot be cheating. (?) I want to believe it is a collective consciousness formed in test-taking that flies through the ethers and is picked up through stress-induced antennae.

Back to the process. In a simple way it is merely taking a problem and then solving it in a new way. A good portion of patents and inventions are the result of one person having an uncomfortable experience, thinking to himself “there must be another way” - and then finding it.

An inventor questions - everything ...

Could this be done in a new way? ...

Is that the best way? ...

Is there a better way? ...

SO ... if you want to invent something - tune in to your own universe. Find something that you would like to see improved upon. Listen to other people and their needs. Keep lists. Look at processes in your home life and work life that raise problems. Write them down.

When you have a few problems written down - cogitate. Think.

Moving to the surreal again - when I personally have some problem to solve - I just sit and think about it. Just as in writing - sit and stare at a blank piece of paper, or an empty word processor screen - it’s the same thought process. In writing, I stare at the blank piece of paper and nothing happens. No words appear - no thoughts. Then - I tell my sub-conscious to solve the problem, set a deadline, and move away from it for awhile.

Your sub-conscious will continue to work on the problem and if there is a solution - you have a great shot at finding it. I do that a lot. I think ... I’m blank ... I say to myself “get it done” and take a walk. Sometimes I can’t get back fast enough to capture all the ideas that flow forth.

TEST - TEST - TEST

Testing your idea is another step. The idea may be good - but needs to be worked out and worked over. The inventor is eternally optimistic. Failure is not a word. Paraphrasing Thomas Edison when he worked -- and worked -- and worked on the light bulb -- I didn’t fail, I just found 9,999 ways a light bulb doesn’t work.

Now, some inventors invent for the purpose of inventing. I have had people who go for and get a patent and are proud as punch to have the patent papers framed and hung on their wall. Others do not want to share their “baby” with the world and put up all kinds of walls to stop the development of the idea.

What I am saying here is be practical. If you want to invent - invent things that are needed and can sell. Even better if “your baby” is wanted as well as needed. And another consideration is the ability to produce your invention at a reasonable price.

An example of this is the page on my site that talks about the SkyCar. It is a great idea - truly innovative - needed in a lot of ways - and wanted by many. But the original cost of one unit will be $3.5 million. Mr. Moller has been working on this concept “car” for over twenty years. It started out more like a flying saucer - now it is more a flying Ferrari.

It is unfortunate - but if his idea was a new can opener - it may have “gotten off the ground” much sooner because of lessened development costs.

HOPING NOT TO BE SUED BY NIKE - JUST DO IT

The most important thing to concern yourself with if you want to invent - is to just start. Use some of the ideas I have laid out here and get your juices flowing. Get the noggin ruminating. Find a hole and fill it.

The more you exercise your pondering propensity - the easier it becomes. Who knows - you could be the one who comes up with a new computer chip - a car that runs on grass - or a new mouse trap. Heaven knows many have tried that one - and there is still room for a better one.