As an individual, an organization or a company ... you are a candidate for Idea Parlor.

 

The Three Common Individuals

Person A ... The “I come up with these ideas!” person:
The person comes up with ideas of various improvements that he/she believes is useful and new, but has not worked out what is truly innovative within the ideas.

Person B ... The “I’ve done this new thing!” person:
The person knows that he/she has worked out some capability either conceptually or by actual tinkering, but is not sure how to express “the thing” in terms of an articulated innovation or put their finger on exactly what is new within the “new thing”.

Person C ... The “I don’t ever think of my ideas as being new.” person:
The person that is not even aware that they have actually innovated something. They just did it as part of their normal efforts.

 

All three of these people suffer from the inability to clearly state the nature of the invention. Relatively few people attempt to articulate their ideas, but without the ability to clarify the invention, the idea remains invisible to everyone else. Being able to state the invention is a major step in being able to act on it.

Idea Parlor sessions will help Person A learn how to separate out the actual innovation from the idea; help Person B learn how to convey the innovation; and help Person C learn how to pay attention to the innovations he/she unwittingly created.

 

The Three Common Organizations

Organization A ... The “Our members are creative people!” organization:
The organization’s individual members have ideas on a regular basis, either from performing a trade, a hobby, their work or merely being sensitive to seeing potential improvements to everyday activities, but have not worked out what is the true innovative part(s) within their idea.

Organization B ... The “Many members have done a new thing!” organization:
The organization’s individual members have worked out some innovative capabilities, either within their head or by actual tinkering, but are not sure how to express “the thing” in terms of an articulated innovation or put their finger on exactly what is new within the “new thing”.

Organization C ... The “Our members didn’t know they had something new.” organization:
The organization’s individual members are not even able to recognize when they have actually innovated something. They just do it as part of their normal efforts.

 

All three of these organizations comprise members who may not have the skills to clearly state the nature of their innovative ideas. Relatively few people are called upon to articulate their ideas, but without the ability to clarify the invention, the idea remains invisible to everyone else. Being able to state the invention is a major step in being able to act on it.

An Idea Parlor session held for an organization’s membership as a public service will help Organization A learn how to separate out the actual innovations from the ideas; Organization B learn how to define and articulate the innovations; and Organization C learn how to pay attention to the innovations a member unwittingly created.

The organization itself, benefits by being a base for mentoring and support to help advance the creativity within its membership.

 

 

The Three Common Companies

Company A ... The “We’ve got this new concept!” company:
The managers and employees within the company have a rather clear idea of their business, their products and/or technologies, but maybe have not worked out what are their true inventive components that will be the differentiator in the market.

Company B ... The “We’ve done this new work!” company:
The managers and employees within the company have worked out some of the plans or actually began some prototyping or even produced products, but are not sure how to express the actual innovations or put their fingers on technically what is new.

Company C ... The “We don’t pay enough attention to all that could be new.” company:
The managers and employees within the company are not sensitive to all the innovations that they have actually conceived. They are just working through business and technical issues on a daily basis without stepping back to consider all the distinct new innovations being created before their eyes or their mind's eye.

 

All three of these companies suffer from the inability to clearly state the nature of the company’s novel inventions. It is not always necessary for a company to articulate their inventions, but that could be equivalent to not knowing the breadth of a company’s strategic assets. Being able to inventory and articulate the inventions devised by a company’s staff is a major step in being able to choose to act on them (or not).

An Idea Parlor session will help Company A learn how to separate out the actual innovations from the ideas; Company B learn how to define and articulate the innovations; and Company C learn how to pay attention to the innovations unwittingly created by the managers and employees within the company.

In addition, Companies A, B and C will learn how to structure the inventions comprising their business in a hierarchical manner, permiting ongoing recognition of the critical novel areas for potential effective patent protection.