Invention

An invention

can either be a: (1) device (apparatus, machine e.g. telephone, pencil, TV., skateboard) or

(2) procedure (method, process, such as the steps to coat a thin sheet of plastic, such as tape, or post-em notes )

which has the following two characteristics:

(1) New (novel)

(2) Useful

Inventions are found through study and experimentation, and is to be distinguished from a discovery, which requires exploration, or a chance encounter.

When ever something annoys you and becomes a problem, you have the potential of creating a new invention! Use the technique of brainstorming, which is to write down a list of ideas, no matter how crazy, to fix the problem. You can do brainstorming alone or in a group situation. If you do it alone, keep an invention notebook by your bedside, jotting down ideas as they come up, which they often do when you get sleepy. Thomas Edison, even enhanced this process by holding balls, which would drop to the floor and wake him up, and then he would quickly jot down any ideas he had. If you do it in a group, it is very important to avoid publicly criticizing the idea, which tends to shut down the group creative process. Often a wild idea will lead to something very useful. For example, in the invention of the zipper, one of the predecessor ideas was to somehow use insects to fasten two halves of a piece of cloth together. An invention can occur from an accidental observation. 3M, the makers of Scotch Tape, were testing various adhesive backings, and one of them was a failure, because it did not stick very well. Someone asked the right question, which is, whether or not this could be useful, and voila, Post-It Notes was born.