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Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results
This counterintuitive and powerfully effective approach to creativity demonstrates how every corporation and organization can develop an innovative culture.
Want to be creative? Then think Inside the Box. The traditional view says that creativity is unstructured and doesn’t follow rules or patterns. That you need to think “outside the box” to be truly original and innovative. That you should start with a problem and then “brainstorm” ideas without restraint until you find a solution. Inside the Box shows that more innovation— and better and quicker innovation—happens when you work inside your familiar world (yes, inside the box) using a set of templates that channel the creative process in a way that makes us more—not less—creative. These techniques were derived from research that discovered a surprising set of common patterns shared by all inventive solutions. They form the basis for Systematic Inventive Thinking, or SIT, now used by hundreds of corporations throughout the world, including industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, GE, Procter & Gamble, SAP, and Philips. Many other books discuss how to make creativity a part of corporate culture, but none of them uses the innovative and unconventional SIT approach described in this book. With “inside the box” thinking, companies and organizations of any size can creatively solve problems before they develop—and innovate on an ongoing, systematic basis. This system really works!
Want to be creative? Then think Inside the Box. The traditional view says that creativity is unstructured and doesn’t follow rules or patterns. That you need to think “outside the box” to be truly original and innovative. That you should start with a problem and then “brainstorm” ideas without restraint until you find a solution. Inside the Box shows that more innovation— and better and quicker innovation—happens when you work inside your familiar world (yes, inside the box) using a set of templates that channel the creative process in a way that makes us more—not less—creative. These techniques were derived from research that discovered a surprising set of common patterns shared by all inventive solutions. They form the basis for Systematic Inventive Thinking, or SIT, now used by hundreds of corporations throughout the world, including industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, GE, Procter & Gamble, SAP, and Philips. Many other books discuss how to make creativity a part of corporate culture, but none of them uses the innovative and unconventional SIT approach described in this book. With “inside the box” thinking, companies and organizations of any size can creatively solve problems before they develop—and innovate on an ongoing, systematic basis. This system really works!
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2013
144 people are currently reading
1523 people want to read
About the author
Drew Boyd
5 books9 followersDrew Boyd is a 30-year industry veteran. He spent 17 years at Johnson & Johnson in marketing, mergers and acquisitions, and international development. Today, he trains, consults, and speaks widely in the fields of innovation, persuasion, and social media. He is the executive director of the Master of Science in Marketing Program and assistant professor of Marketing and Innovation at the University of Cincinnati. His work has been featured in numerous business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Industry Week, Psychology Today, and Strategy+Business.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
November 13, 2014
Don't buy it.
The method looks great (although I would need more extensive experience to assess its validity), but the book leaves you with the feeling that the authors are too much in love with their own ideas and that somehow you are being cheated.
They do have some examples of innovation based on the method, but for the most part, they explain you how they recognize one of their patterns in an innovation someone else made without using the method.
Also, I attended a seminar facilitated by one of the authors and the examples he used are exactly the same ones that they use in the book, which makes you wonder about the practical limits of the whole thing.
And it is definitely way too expensive for the value it adds.
The method looks great (although I would need more extensive experience to assess its validity), but the book leaves you with the feeling that the authors are too much in love with their own ideas and that somehow you are being cheated.
They do have some examples of innovation based on the method, but for the most part, they explain you how they recognize one of their patterns in an innovation someone else made without using the method.
Also, I attended a seminar facilitated by one of the authors and the examples he used are exactly the same ones that they use in the book, which makes you wonder about the practical limits of the whole thing.
And it is definitely way too expensive for the value it adds.
September 9, 2022
Fantastic book. Very valuable if you're interested in learning the basics of procedural creativity from a strictly scientific point of view. Wish I had gotten a hold of this book many years ago, but specifically 2 years ago before I started to develop this framework on my own. I absolutely hate wasted energy. I knew there was a way to be procedurally creative in the marrow of my bones and was very vocal about it, so the existence of this research and framework is incredibly vindicating. Anyway, as usual, I won't make you read the book to get to the best stuff that's in it. Here are the main takeaways:
General takeaways:
Anyone can be creative. It doesn't require a special gene or circumstance of birth. You don't need to be a genius. You don't need to be a master of a specific domain. Creativity/ innovation is a skill and it can be learned. Not only can it be learned but it can be learned easily and quickly, including by people with cognitive disabilities.
Being creative and innovative is not about expanding beyond the scope of the environment the problem exists in. It's not about thinking outside the box but rather thinking within it. The results garnered by thinking inside the box are often dramatically more creative than those garnered by taking in resources from outside of the immediate environment. This is not the same as an argument regarding utility. The best solution for a problem may not be the most creative one and we should never confuse these 2 aims.
Innovation isn't environment-dependent. Mundane objects and processes can be innovated with as much ease as more complex ones. The author goes through pains to demonstrate case studies of innovation for things that had long histories of utility, that appeared to be mature fields where no significant changes had been made for hundreds of years, that didn't look like there was any space for innovation and yet where innovations were made, sometimes on the spot (when challenged about whether the method would work at a conference for example). Some of the examples given include the toilet, the refrigerator, glasses, laundry detergent and flashlights. We're not talking about trivial innovations that add no utility but rather real innovations that people would be willing to pay money for (and have since some of those innovations reached mass market).
The process of innovation best proceeds from end-product to justification rather than from justification to end-product. That is to say you start with a possible solution and work backwards to find a problem it solves.
People are generally captivated by what the author calls "fixedness". Fixedness basically means that our minds hold onto one perspective on a process, product or system and refuse to see it in other ways unless we perform specific activities to stimulate alternative modes of thinking.
Specific Takeaways (the methods outlined in the book):
Procedural creativity, or creativity on demand as its phrased in the first chapter, consists of a few basic operations that can be performed.
1) Subtraction - The subtraction operation is simple. You remove a core component from a process, system or object without removing the functionality associated with the component. You then evaluate the subject for viability afterwards and consider its utility. I have to stress this point. Just removing a component an doing nothing else is straight up cutting features. The creative part of this act comes in making up for that loss in some way. An example given for this operation were early dvd players which emulated vcrs closely until someone decided to start removing parts like the front-facing digital display and the buttons on the dvd player itself. This created the slimline design and also kicked that off as a design trend for electronics. They took those things away and used other features in the environment to substitute their functions. Instead of using a digital display to send the user information, they used the tv screen itself, spawning the now-classic dvd player menu we're all accustomed to. Instead of having the buttons on the box, they have it on the remote control that comes with the box. Another example that was given was detergent. They removed one of the core components of laundry detergent, the active ingredient that cleans clothes, and investigated if there was a market for it. It turns out that there was a market for people who want to refresh their clothes without needing to clean them (because they aren't dirty, just worn) and don't want to cause the damage that frequent washing with the active ingredient is known to. This line of products was later marketed under the name Febreeze.
2) Multiplication - The process of multiplication involves taking a core component and adding duplicates of it, then making small changes to the duplicates and evaluating. The duplicates must have a different function from the original. An example given of this operation in action was the straight razor. For centuries, men shaved with a straight razor, or a single blade razor. Then, someone came up with the idea for a dual blade razor. The presence of the second blade changed the way the razor works, where the first blade is angled to catch the hair and keep it from laying down and the second blade actually does the cutting. Much more efficient/ effective for such a minor change. The author points out that adding additional blades beyond 2 that do not have different uses does not qualify as an innovation or as a use of this operation. Another example given of multiplication in action was a toilet with one of the core tubes multiplied. The result was a dual-flush design that also generated enough water pressure (using 5 separate tubes) to efficiently remove waste stuck to the bowl. It won industry design awards apparently.
3) Division - The operation of division requires dividing the physical or functional components of a subject and distributing them in space or time. An example given for division is the air conditioner. Apparently early attempts at indoor climate control different remarkedly from the way they appear today. The division operation was used here to physically separate parts of the machine, putting them outside to vent hot air (I think) and also placing the temperature control mechanism elsewhere in the house in the form of a thermostat. Another example given of division was the mortgage. Instead of having a house payment of $XXXX paid up front, the payment is distributed along the time dimension across 30 years and it makes a substantial change in who can access home ownership.
4) Task unification - This operation occurs when you take a component of a system and make it do double duty. An example of task unification given is CAPTCHA. CAPTCHA not only presents a security barrier for websites that can't be gamed by bots (can only be completed by humans at this time) but it also helps the creator by translating difficult old bits of scanned text and is contributing to the translation of every book on the planet. Another example given for task unification is a project undertaken by a scientist where she distributed sunflower seeds to her friends and asked her to grow the sunflowers and also to agree to go out periodically to look out for bees and to identify the bees that they found. This allowed the people to do something they would have enjoyed doing already (gardening) and also perform a task that's a net-positive for the species (gathering scientific data on our pollinators who are at risk of extinction).
5) Attribute dependency - This is the most complicated operation, according to the author, and the easiest to get wrong apparently. Attribute dependency is when you take attributes related to the innovation subject and you link them together causally. An example given of attribute dependency was transition lenses. You are linking the luminosity of the environment inversely to the tint of the glasses. In the process you afford the user some savings in the form of only having to carry 1 pair of glasses and thus also never having to remember to switch glasses when moving between differently lit environments. Another example, though hypothetical, given of attribute dependency was baby ointment. The ointment smell could be linked to the state of the infant's underwear (waste vs no waste) in such a way that the parents would be pleasantly alerted tot he presence of waste without having to wait for the diaper to reek or for the infant to begin wailing. This benefits both the parent and the child directly by reducing time to changing and thus reducing incidence of things like irritation from exposure to waste.
Great book. Not only am I thinking about creating a poster for this, if one doesn't exist already, but I'm also thinking about making it a daily practice to build up my skill in these 5 specific methods. Truly inspirational stuff.
General takeaways:
Anyone can be creative. It doesn't require a special gene or circumstance of birth. You don't need to be a genius. You don't need to be a master of a specific domain. Creativity/ innovation is a skill and it can be learned. Not only can it be learned but it can be learned easily and quickly, including by people with cognitive disabilities.
Being creative and innovative is not about expanding beyond the scope of the environment the problem exists in. It's not about thinking outside the box but rather thinking within it. The results garnered by thinking inside the box are often dramatically more creative than those garnered by taking in resources from outside of the immediate environment. This is not the same as an argument regarding utility. The best solution for a problem may not be the most creative one and we should never confuse these 2 aims.
Innovation isn't environment-dependent. Mundane objects and processes can be innovated with as much ease as more complex ones. The author goes through pains to demonstrate case studies of innovation for things that had long histories of utility, that appeared to be mature fields where no significant changes had been made for hundreds of years, that didn't look like there was any space for innovation and yet where innovations were made, sometimes on the spot (when challenged about whether the method would work at a conference for example). Some of the examples given include the toilet, the refrigerator, glasses, laundry detergent and flashlights. We're not talking about trivial innovations that add no utility but rather real innovations that people would be willing to pay money for (and have since some of those innovations reached mass market).
The process of innovation best proceeds from end-product to justification rather than from justification to end-product. That is to say you start with a possible solution and work backwards to find a problem it solves.
People are generally captivated by what the author calls "fixedness". Fixedness basically means that our minds hold onto one perspective on a process, product or system and refuse to see it in other ways unless we perform specific activities to stimulate alternative modes of thinking.
Specific Takeaways (the methods outlined in the book):
Procedural creativity, or creativity on demand as its phrased in the first chapter, consists of a few basic operations that can be performed.
1) Subtraction - The subtraction operation is simple. You remove a core component from a process, system or object without removing the functionality associated with the component. You then evaluate the subject for viability afterwards and consider its utility. I have to stress this point. Just removing a component an doing nothing else is straight up cutting features. The creative part of this act comes in making up for that loss in some way. An example given for this operation were early dvd players which emulated vcrs closely until someone decided to start removing parts like the front-facing digital display and the buttons on the dvd player itself. This created the slimline design and also kicked that off as a design trend for electronics. They took those things away and used other features in the environment to substitute their functions. Instead of using a digital display to send the user information, they used the tv screen itself, spawning the now-classic dvd player menu we're all accustomed to. Instead of having the buttons on the box, they have it on the remote control that comes with the box. Another example that was given was detergent. They removed one of the core components of laundry detergent, the active ingredient that cleans clothes, and investigated if there was a market for it. It turns out that there was a market for people who want to refresh their clothes without needing to clean them (because they aren't dirty, just worn) and don't want to cause the damage that frequent washing with the active ingredient is known to. This line of products was later marketed under the name Febreeze.
2) Multiplication - The process of multiplication involves taking a core component and adding duplicates of it, then making small changes to the duplicates and evaluating. The duplicates must have a different function from the original. An example given of this operation in action was the straight razor. For centuries, men shaved with a straight razor, or a single blade razor. Then, someone came up with the idea for a dual blade razor. The presence of the second blade changed the way the razor works, where the first blade is angled to catch the hair and keep it from laying down and the second blade actually does the cutting. Much more efficient/ effective for such a minor change. The author points out that adding additional blades beyond 2 that do not have different uses does not qualify as an innovation or as a use of this operation. Another example given of multiplication in action was a toilet with one of the core tubes multiplied. The result was a dual-flush design that also generated enough water pressure (using 5 separate tubes) to efficiently remove waste stuck to the bowl. It won industry design awards apparently.
3) Division - The operation of division requires dividing the physical or functional components of a subject and distributing them in space or time. An example given for division is the air conditioner. Apparently early attempts at indoor climate control different remarkedly from the way they appear today. The division operation was used here to physically separate parts of the machine, putting them outside to vent hot air (I think) and also placing the temperature control mechanism elsewhere in the house in the form of a thermostat. Another example given of division was the mortgage. Instead of having a house payment of $XXXX paid up front, the payment is distributed along the time dimension across 30 years and it makes a substantial change in who can access home ownership.
4) Task unification - This operation occurs when you take a component of a system and make it do double duty. An example of task unification given is CAPTCHA. CAPTCHA not only presents a security barrier for websites that can't be gamed by bots (can only be completed by humans at this time) but it also helps the creator by translating difficult old bits of scanned text and is contributing to the translation of every book on the planet. Another example given for task unification is a project undertaken by a scientist where she distributed sunflower seeds to her friends and asked her to grow the sunflowers and also to agree to go out periodically to look out for bees and to identify the bees that they found. This allowed the people to do something they would have enjoyed doing already (gardening) and also perform a task that's a net-positive for the species (gathering scientific data on our pollinators who are at risk of extinction).
5) Attribute dependency - This is the most complicated operation, according to the author, and the easiest to get wrong apparently. Attribute dependency is when you take attributes related to the innovation subject and you link them together causally. An example given of attribute dependency was transition lenses. You are linking the luminosity of the environment inversely to the tint of the glasses. In the process you afford the user some savings in the form of only having to carry 1 pair of glasses and thus also never having to remember to switch glasses when moving between differently lit environments. Another example, though hypothetical, given of attribute dependency was baby ointment. The ointment smell could be linked to the state of the infant's underwear (waste vs no waste) in such a way that the parents would be pleasantly alerted tot he presence of waste without having to wait for the diaper to reek or for the infant to begin wailing. This benefits both the parent and the child directly by reducing time to changing and thus reducing incidence of things like irritation from exposure to waste.
Great book. Not only am I thinking about creating a poster for this, if one doesn't exist already, but I'm also thinking about making it a daily practice to build up my skill in these 5 specific methods. Truly inspirational stuff.
June 16, 2023
Quem me conhece sabe que sou um defensor da máxima de que todas as pessoas podem ser criativas, desde que conheçam os métodos, estímulos e formas de reunir as pessoas certas para resolverem um desafio. Daí que os autores do livro desafiam outro mito da criatividade / inovação que nunca tinha parado para dar a devida atenção: que ela exige que se pense fora da caixa (isso porque também sou conhecido por ser um grande detrator das frases feitas).
E, além da descrença de que a criatividade é raramente alcançada por uma forma de pensar divergente, os autores demolem o mito da criatividade como uma epifania, um dom que você carrega desde nascença. E para isso, trazendo os meios e muitos exemplos de aplicação do método do Pensamento Inventivo Sistemático, mostram que a criatividade não é muito diferente das outras habilidades de negócio que a gente adquire nos negócios / vida.
Apesar de muito "retrospective sense-making" - muitas vezes descaradamente revelado, provavelmente se valendo do humor judaico auto-depreciativo de um dos autores - os cases ajudam a passar pelas 5 principais técnicas de inovação / criatividade que fazem parte do método e trazem uma praticidade difícil de serem encontradas em livros mais técnicos. Motivo pelo qual vou deixar meu exemplar aqui pertinho, esperando o momento certo de colocá-lo em prática...
E, além da descrença de que a criatividade é raramente alcançada por uma forma de pensar divergente, os autores demolem o mito da criatividade como uma epifania, um dom que você carrega desde nascença. E para isso, trazendo os meios e muitos exemplos de aplicação do método do Pensamento Inventivo Sistemático, mostram que a criatividade não é muito diferente das outras habilidades de negócio que a gente adquire nos negócios / vida.
Apesar de muito "retrospective sense-making" - muitas vezes descaradamente revelado, provavelmente se valendo do humor judaico auto-depreciativo de um dos autores - os cases ajudam a passar pelas 5 principais técnicas de inovação / criatividade que fazem parte do método e trazem uma praticidade difícil de serem encontradas em livros mais técnicos. Motivo pelo qual vou deixar meu exemplar aqui pertinho, esperando o momento certo de colocá-lo em prática...
December 30, 2022
Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel. Good book though👍
January 18, 2022
The premise of this book is that creativity, especially creative solutions / innovations, can be generated systematically with "closed world" and "inside the box" approaches. They argue that these strategies are more effective than anything-goes stille brainstorming. Compared to some how-to-innovate guides, this book might be seen as revolutionary. However, I think if you practice any art form you know that constraints enhance creativity.
October 25, 2013
I got this brook through goodreads giveaway. This is one of the more enlightening books I've read in a while. The authors definitely provided a different perspective of creativity that was actually quite eye-opening. Reading this book, I had a lot of "hmm never thought of it that way before" moments. I would highly recommend this book to everyone!
October 6, 2013
Improve the way you think when making decisions AND when coming up with new ideas (the innovation part). For me to give a book 5 stars it needs to stick with me and change me in some way. This book does that. The authors provide a nice mix of structure and short examples that help their systematic approach highly relevant.
August 5, 2013
Good concepts presented in an accessible format. While a good primer on the methodology, it seems unlikely that the reader can fully implement the process without additional help from subject matter experts. Not a very practical "how to" guide, but a worthwhile read.
August 6, 2017
You know, one of the bandied about terms in corporate America that really means nothing is "think outside the box." It's a big bag of dog dirt--when someone says "think outside the box," what they're actually saying is that they have no idea how to solve the problem and they'd like you to walk off the map and create a new solution.
Ok, great, but using what resources? What budget? The ones that already exist, right?
That's what I really like about the presumption here; in business, we generally must approach problems systemically using what we already have available (in terms of $$, people, time, and product) and figure out how resolve our issues.
Leaders, don't keep waiting for a miracle to hit you in the face. I'd recommend this for executive level or higher management level readers.
Ok, great, but using what resources? What budget? The ones that already exist, right?
That's what I really like about the presumption here; in business, we generally must approach problems systemically using what we already have available (in terms of $$, people, time, and product) and figure out how resolve our issues.
Leaders, don't keep waiting for a miracle to hit you in the face. I'd recommend this for executive level or higher management level readers.
July 9, 2017
Fantastic book on how to innovate systematically. It was great to read this book while on a trip with one of the authors (Jacob) to Israel. The core idea that creativity is spurred by constraints (such as staying within the closed world inside the box in this book) was fairly evident as we explored the Israeli innovation ecosystem.
The 5 techniques in this book (subtraction, division, multiplication, task unification and attribute dependency) are very intuitively presented with a variety of accessible examples. I was particularly fascinated by contradictions and how these Innovation archetypes can be applied to break the weak links in false contradictions that we see in our lives all the time instead of compromising.
The 5 techniques in this book (subtraction, division, multiplication, task unification and attribute dependency) are very intuitively presented with a variety of accessible examples. I was particularly fascinated by contradictions and how these Innovation archetypes can be applied to break the weak links in false contradictions that we see in our lives all the time instead of compromising.
March 18, 2018
We usually want people to think outside the box to get more inspiration for creativity, but this author explained why inside the box is actually more frequent and easier way.
The methods :
1. subtraction 框架内的减法 less is more ex. instant cake baking power (just need to add eggs); ipod shuffle (no screen ); Philips' thin DVD.
2. division 框架内的除法 similar to division, but make multi-functional products into single function. such as ATM. airport auto check-in counter machine.
3. multiplication 框架内的乘法 multiply to win better functions? Sears tower in Chicago is actually several building together as wind resistant structure; double blades razors( shave cleaner)
4. task unification and 框架内的任务统筹
5. attribute dependency 框架内的属性依存
滑轮和李行箱组合，就变成滑轮式李行箱。
电话和打印机组合，就变传真机。
奶瓶隨溫度高低變色 以防嬰兒燙傷.
The methods :
1. subtraction 框架内的减法 less is more ex. instant cake baking power (just need to add eggs); ipod shuffle (no screen ); Philips' thin DVD.
2. division 框架内的除法 similar to division, but make multi-functional products into single function. such as ATM. airport auto check-in counter machine.
3. multiplication 框架内的乘法 multiply to win better functions? Sears tower in Chicago is actually several building together as wind resistant structure; double blades razors( shave cleaner)
4. task unification and 框架内的任务统筹
5. attribute dependency 框架内的属性依存
滑轮和李行箱组合，就变成滑轮式李行箱。
电话和打印机组合，就变传真机。
奶瓶隨溫度高低變色 以防嬰兒燙傷.
December 6, 2018
I've always despised that cliche to "think outside the box", because the reality is that no one wants "wild" ideas with no basis or context for the problem at hand. I've always found that we need rules, constraints, some form of boundary to truly be creative so I'm glad I came across this book.
It's a very interesting look at creative ideas constrained "inside the box", something that makes sense of how to think creatively within a closed world. I found the case studies were fascinating and great examples of where the different approaches work.
This is definitely a worthy read for those looking to expand and practise their own creative problem solving.
It's a very interesting look at creative ideas constrained "inside the box", something that makes sense of how to think creatively within a closed world. I found the case studies were fascinating and great examples of where the different approaches work.
This is definitely a worthy read for those looking to expand and practise their own creative problem solving.
November 23, 2022
The book argues well that creativity likes constraints and gives different methods of brainstorming new solutions with subtracting components. Divide Your current solutions into different components and ask with each one: how would it be better without it? Not in the means of providing a cheaper solution, but a DIFFERENT solution? How would it exceed the usability of the old solution? Me as a programmer I feel like Agile work methods are the same - we are not building the whole solution (Waterfall method), but we cut the project into pieces and try to give value by bits - and in this way indeed we might find new value that was not seen with the whole project in mind.
December 1, 2023
Eye opening, Fantastic and Jaw dropping.
I always wanted to understand where the strokes of creativity come from and this book breaks it down soo very well. The gist is to show people that creativity does not require outside the box thinking but rather requires inside the box thinking and innovations can be brought out of things surrounding us. The author discusses real life examples and has tons of it to prove that this method works. Every chapter leads you to discover how more and more products around you are innovated through inside the box thinking.
Definitely one of the most pleasant reads and would definitely suggest to everyone looking for books on innovation
I always wanted to understand where the strokes of creativity come from and this book breaks it down soo very well. The gist is to show people that creativity does not require outside the box thinking but rather requires inside the box thinking and innovations can be brought out of things surrounding us. The author discusses real life examples and has tons of it to prove that this method works. Every chapter leads you to discover how more and more products around you are innovated through inside the box thinking.
Definitely one of the most pleasant reads and would definitely suggest to everyone looking for books on innovation
December 26, 2018
This book was assigned as optional reading for a grad school marketing course, and I read roughly half of it, but wasn't compelled to finish the whole book -- namely for two reasons: (1) OPTIONAL and (2) the teacher shared the main concepts during lecture in class. With that, I though the concepts were intriguing and an interesting challenge to the accepted consensus on the trusted mechanics behind successful innovation techniques. However, the reading just wasn't enough to grab me during a busy time of year to go through it page by page.
April 13, 2025
Dropped at 50%. Some decent insights here but ultimately this was an absolute slog.
Drew Boyd is very obviously high on his own supply here and many of the given examples feel either completely nonsensical or useless beyond being fodder for a marketing director’s wet dream. At one point he uses the concept of timeshares as an example of such “innovation”.
If you’re looking for a book on procedural problem solving, you will not find it here. The proposed techniques are - almost by definition - a solution in search of a problem.
Drew Boyd is very obviously high on his own supply here and many of the given examples feel either completely nonsensical or useless beyond being fodder for a marketing director’s wet dream. At one point he uses the concept of timeshares as an example of such “innovation”.
If you’re looking for a book on procedural problem solving, you will not find it here. The proposed techniques are - almost by definition - a solution in search of a problem.
January 24, 2023
An interesting and valuable read on using inside the box, rather than outside the box, thinking to innovate and design creative solutions. The authors argue that most creative solutions occur in the closed world (inside the box) and by using subtraction, division, multiplication, task unification, or attribute dependency, you can get achieve greater creativity.
The book is practical with helpful steps to implementation.
The book is practical with helpful steps to implementation.
May 22, 2024
I think this books comes closest to a creativity system that can actually work.
Rather than just giving usual ideas such as brainstorming the given systems seem to work for the examples given.
I felt that these system are not the usual problem solving techniques. But instead it create solutions from the current products and then go looking for the problem.
But a must read to oil your creative gears.
Rather than just giving usual ideas such as brainstorming the given systems seem to work for the examples given.
I felt that these system are not the usual problem solving techniques. But instead it create solutions from the current products and then go looking for the problem.
But a must read to oil your creative gears.
August 14, 2020
A lot of so called educated people mentions that creativity is all about thinking outside the box and doing the unconventional. What if, being creative is a type of thinking that actually done inside our own mind and consistently ? The book explains the new type of thinking- the conventional template of thoughts.
Actually really interesting.
Actually really interesting.
July 19, 2018
A great book that gives you a few really practical tools for creativity. The book really does what it can to avoid being a theoretical knowledge and really being a day in day guide for creativity and problem solving. It does a great job in that with many real life examples and justifications.
Enjoy
Enjoy
August 20, 2019
Solid book on a system for practical creativity. It seems tailored to business, and specifically, product development challenges but I can see its applicability in other areas quite easily. Want a more results oriented approach to creativity? This book is for you
Read
November 13, 2020If you're looking for an easy book to read that gives you some excellent explanations of how some products came to exist along with the process of thinking, this is it! I've enjoyed this one thoroughly and have often had to come back to it for real-life examples.
October 31, 2023
Good breakdown of different methods of innovative thinking. But wow it is already so dated, as many of the ideas it touts didn’t last the ten years between publication and today. Others stood the test of time, but generally this makes me question a lot of things.
September 19, 2018
Good read and great perspective. Examples helped with the way of thinking. Truly enjoyed the discussion around this book with a group.
February 18, 2019
I studied this book as part of my course in UC and had the pleasure to meet Drew Boyd. I think this is not a book which you just read and are done with it. You need to practice it, on random things just to absorb what the author is saying. I loved it and thoroughly enjoyed the book and my course.
March 26, 2019
Title is VERY accurate, amazing systematic processes for improvement and design, big.
July 16, 2019
For someone who likes to generate new ideas, this book provides a great template to systematically identify new innovations in my every-day workflow. One idea that consistently repeated itself was the importance in having a deep knowledge of the closed world in a given situation. Contrary to the thought that outside voices and perspectives are needed for a situation, team member’s valuable expertise and knowledge of a product or situation provides an invaluable source of solutions if people exhibit open mindedness to these techniques.
October 11, 2019
Despite couple of good techniques, this book is highly manipulative. I would not recommended reading the book anybody who has not mastered critical thinking.
October 31, 2019
A clear, well-rounded look at ways to bring creative thinking into different areas of your life.
April 9, 2020
buku ini memberitahu banyak hal, tentang sejarah inovasi produk-produk. Walaupun entahlah memang produk-produk itu sebenarnya memakai PIS di dalam dunia tertutup atau tidak (?)
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