| Issue 28 |

The Closed World Principle

What are inventions? Ideas that surprise competitors and customers alike. Ideas that make us say: “Why didn’t we think of that before?” And in order for ideas to truly surprise us because we didn’t think of them before, they must be connected to reality, to the world of the product, service or technology. In other words – to be “under our nose”.

This is where the most important principle of inventive thinking comes from – the Closed World Principle. According to this principle, when you want to invent something, to innovate and surprise, the point of origin needs to be a mapping of the Closed World – a collection of components that are already “under our nose” in the product, service or technology that we are focusing on, and in its immediate (and natural) environment. It is important to emphasize that the Closed World Principle contradicts the widespread assumption according to which we must conduct a random stimulus (using things external to the closed world) in order to arrive at creative solutions.
 

For example – in order to develop new printers, the closed world principle says that it is preferable to focus on printer components (printer, paper tray, toner, etc.) and on the components in the printer’s immediate environment (paper, desk, hand, eye, computer, etc.). There is no need or point to focus on things external to the closed world (owls, swimming pools, cars, among others). Random stimulus perhaps sounds like something exciting (let’s focus on a swimming pool and see what ideas for printer innovations we come up with), but in practice this is an ineffective thinking process that will prevent us from quickly and exhaustively attaining good and applicable solutions.
 

Therefore, when thinking about problem solving or about developing innovations, focus on the natural components in the closed world. These will yield results. It will be possible to develop the majority of future inventions by using changes we will make to them. The first step in inventive thinking is to map the components that exist in the closed world (for example – in a product and in its immediate environment), and the main variables related to these components. Afterwards we can make systematic changes to the components and to the variables that were mapped, using various thinking tools – as specified below . 

Developing innovations using the Closed World:

1. First, choose a product, service or process. 
2. Second, write down all the internal components (within the manufacturer’s control). A variety of inventive thinking tools can be applied to these components, such as: reduction, Unification , multiplication , and fragmentation. Various SCAMPER tools can also be applied to them, such as Rearrange. 
3. Third, write down the environmental components (that are not manufacturer dependent, but that are naturally found near the product, in its natural environment). Environmental compatibility can be applied to these components, and they can be used to apply other thinking tools, such as unification or substitution. 
4. Fourth, write down the important variables of the internal and external components that were previously mentioned. The dimension addition and modification thinking tools can be applied to these variables, among the rest.

• Information on Inventive Thinking workshops appears here (see page 10 at PDF booklet in Hebrew)
• For information on the SCAMPER workshop, appears here  (see page 11 at PDF booklet in Hebrew)
• For articles on Systematic Innovation: click here

Business Circuits with your Customers

ZOOZon, ZOOZ’s small businesses department, now makes it possible for large organizations that serve smaller business customers (B2B) to offer them a new service that will greatly increase these customers’ loyalty. This is a collaborative venture where the large organizations subsidize and/or host Business Circuits that ZOOZon leads. In each Business Circuit, 10-12 small business owners learn how to improve their business in five domains (vision, employee management, customer service, marketing communication, finances). The course of study includes 5 workshops (3-4 hours each), and application of the learned information on-site. Detailed information about Business

Circuits can be found here (in Hebrew). A few examples of applying the new service can be found below:

• A pharmaceutical company can offer a Business Circuit for pharmacy owners (and separately to private physicians as well).

• A communications company can offer a Business Circuit to small and medium sized business customers.

• An association of self-employed professionals (artists / technicians / mechanics / lawyers, etc.) can offer a Business Circuit to its members.

• A large organization’s retirement center can offer a Business Circuit for retiring employees planning to open their own business.

   

• To organize a Business Circuit for your customers: contact us

Using External Components – III

 

Smart advertising can take advantage of existing environmental components, as we previously saw in this section here and here. In fact, we are talking about using components that regardless exist in the Closed World (see this issue’s Innovation section) in order to demonstrate the advertising message. Brilliant use was made of the bus exhaust fumes in the ad above, in order to demonstrate the necessity to quit smoking. This is how the proffered solution– Nicotinell, nicotine patches made by Novartis, is presented in a very clear and convincing manner. And as usual with first-rate advertising, there is no need for verbosity – the title “Ready to quit?” suffices.

By the way, pay attention to the way the advertisement deviates from the regular frame of the advertisement sign on the back of the bus. In order for the exhaust to function as the smoker’s mouth, there was a need to draw on the back of the bus. It probably wasn’t easy to persuade the bus company to agree to this, since the campaign also demonstrates that busses contribute to air pollution. Use of environmental components in advertising requires not only rigorous execution, but also overcoming the difficulties stemming from a truly creative idea. Novartis’ advertising agency can be saluted for their success in being able to do this.

• Many more examples of creating an advertising impact can be found in this article (in Hebrew).
• For Information on the Creative Advertising workshop see page 18 of the  booklet of Strategy and Marketing workshops (Hebrew, PDF file) or contact us.
• We would be happy to receive more interesting advertisements.
  Please send them to ari@zooz.co.il .