Innovation Generation: How to Produce Creative and Useful Scientific Ideas PDF
Preview Innovation Generation: How to Produce Creative and Useful Scientific Ideas
Innovation Generation Innovation Generation How to Produce Creative and Useful Scientific Ideas ROBERTA B. NESS 1 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2012 by Roberta B. Ness Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ness, Roberta B. Innovation generation : how to produce creative and useful scientifi c ideas / Roberta B. Ness. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0-19–989259-4 (hardback) 1. Creative ability in science. 2. Science—Study and teaching. 3. Creative thinking—Study and teaching. I. Title. Q172.5.C74N47 2012 501ʹ.9—dc23 2011034698 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My most heartfelt thanks to Michael Goodman and Sara Ness, who gath- ered data, tracked down ideas, added great thoughts, and commented on draft s. Th ese two young people are the best of the next generation of creative thinkers. Th e InGen Group provided wonderful research help and brainstorms for which I am truly grateful: Jack Smith, Nancy Turner, John D’Amore, Rhiannon Dodge, Angie Lloyd, Alana Harrison, and Christopher Neil. Th anks also to Tracie Chase for her, as always, fl awless technical assistance. My parents, of course, have my everlasting thanks for 18 years of form- ing me into the person I am. I thank my children, Joel and Sara, who shaped me as much or more during a subsequent 18-plus years. Finally, thanks to my husband David, who has, for decades, been the grease to my imaginings. As always, he showed great patience and forti- tude through the writing of this book. His comments sometimes got me over a hump, and his love and support kept me climbing up this seem- ingly endless mountain. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS 1 Don’t Read this Book 1 Th e Big Picture: Understanding and Overcoming Barriers to Innovation 2 It All Depends on How You Look at It 11 3 Overcoming Frames 20 4 Say It Like you Mean It 30 5 Overcoming Metaphors 36 6 Check Th is Out! 42 7 Becoming a Keener Observer 53 8 How Biased Are You? 62 9 Overcoming Bias 71 10 Th e Brain and Creativity: Th e Seat of Inspiration 75 11 Th e Brain and Creativity: Getting Out in Front 81 Asking and Answering a Scientifi c Question Th rough Innovation 12 Th e Joy of Science 93 13 Asking the Right Question 98 14 How Is a Marriage Like a Matchbox? 107 15 Flip it! 117 16 A Man Walked into a Bar 131 17 Th e Power of Group Intelligence 144 18 Getting the Most from a Group 156 19 Incubation 162 20 Testing Your Ideas 168 21 Th at Right Idea 180 22 Th e Stodginess of Science 191 23 Overcoming the Stodginess of Science 197 24 Innovation Incubators 208 References 217 Answers to Exercises 235 Index 253 This page intentionally left blank Innovation Generation
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