Introduction
SIT is the inventive systematic thinking by its acronym in English: Systematic Inventive Thinking.
The two central Principles of Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) are applied.
The Closed World Principle says that creative solutions exist mainly in the world of components of the problem / product or in its immediate environment.
So, a solution that incorporates new elements is NOT creative in SIT. The further we get away from the product and its environment, the less creative the solution is given, and this is the heart of the closed world principle.
We will see how to create new products or services with SIT. Make an experience. You tried to create something by giving yourself 5 minutes. You are paralyzed.
Now take an object from your desktop and apply the DIVISION tool. You get several alternatives. Why?
Because you are more generative when you have a frame of reference and apply tools that are already known and internalized, that is to say, apprehended.
It is interesting to note in creative workshops that the more restrictions are given to a given problem or when, as we are now creating new Products, the more creative the solutions turn out to be, which as we said, goes against what many people commonly think.
The second called Principle of Qualitative Change says that there must be a change in the relationship between the components or objects in the vicinity that contribute to intensify or eliminate the undesired effect on the problem / product.
The inventive systematic thinking SIT works according to the principle of the Function that follows the Form, since first a virtual product is created and then its usefulness in the market is investigated. The model is alternative in many ways, but a crucial one is that it proposes to think the other way around as regards the ordering of the design principle according to which "form follows function" and which is applied by biologists and physicians to bones of the body.
Each bone has its shape according to the function it performs. Here in reverse we create a virtual service or product and studying its function, we determine what possibilities it has in the market.
One must strive to find unusual relationships in the object to improve. For example, in eyeglasses from the 1950s, there was no change ratio between external light and the color of the lenses.
Now you create a photochromic lens and can have glasses for different lighting conditions. Or for example, currently the builders of large forged dies have related the dimension of the piece with the surface roughness, giving different roughness as appropriate.
This type of additional relationships to existing products makes one see such changes as inevitable.
For decades shaving machines were the same for men and women, which changes today, in the same way as with many other cosmetic products.
You must choose the relationship that minimizes the unwanted effect or see if that effect is really undesirable, for example the post-its were rejected in the beginning but someone saw the interesting utility of writing down on papers that adhere little and in successive days to any surface.
Only by applying both principles at the same time do we obtain the necessary and sufficient condition to find creative Services or Products.
Sometimes it is necessary to apply several combined tools. Let's look at several examples first applied to products / services and then to industrial improvements. These examples have been simplified to facilitate understanding of the tools studied.
We have extended the number of examples of this SIT tool given its enormous applicability. SIT doesn't help you find ideas… at least not directly. Some people think that if they apply the SIT tools step by step their problem will be solved without their having to think. It's not like that.
The truth is that the role of SIT is not to provide ideas, but to give you pre-ideas.
A pre-idea is a thought that can lead to an idea.
And an idea can lead to a solution that can eventually be implemented.
pre-idea => idea => solution (?) => implementation (?)
Working properly with SIT means putting off thinking until you get to the pre-idea, and then starting to think about an idea, a solution, and finally an implementation.
SIT manages our intellectual resources. In the first phase, "thinking" too much reduces the possibility of finding new ideas, and therefore, in this phase, all the work is done for us. In other words, one proceeds mechanically to find a pre-idea based on the two principles listed above.
1. Briefly describe the product.
2. Define the product objects
3. Define the required action
4. Find the main adverse factor
5. Apply the five tools
And the tools are as follows:
1. Unification: Solve a problem assigning a new use or function to an existing component in our product. For example a copier with scanner and fax
2. Multiplication: Solve a problem by introducing a slightly modified copy of an existing object in the current system. For example, a cell phone with a calculator, alarm clock, Internet browser, etc.
3. Division: Solve a problem dividing an object and rearranging its parts. For example, a stereo car with its control with access code and separated from the equipment, to avoid theft
4. Symmetry Breaking: Solving a problem by changing a symmetric situation into an asymmetric one. For example a different size of frog legs for aquanauts
5. Removal, Replacement or Removal of Objects: Solve a problem by removing an object from the system and giving this function to a nearby external Resource. For example, powdered fruit juices or concentrated broths
Innovating is nothing other than creating new knowledge or what is the same, learning to do different or novel things, if possible aided by an efficient methodology.
Innovation contains creativity but also must be real, practical and transferable to the market.
This is something simple to verify but almost always forgotten by teachers and seminars that repeat concepts of the philosophy of creativity and other herbs, neglecting the specific tools of creativity already proven successfully by industry and companies.
Systematic Inventive Thinking in the launch of a Service or Product
Advertising for a service launch is something that grows by leaps and bounds on a daily basis.
In the 1950s, advertisements were specifically directed according to the medium and users such as radio, graphics, street advertisements, etc.
In the 1980s to 2000s, most advertisements repeatedly focused on television because it was the medium that most retained users and gave the highest return on investment.
Since 2000 there has been a profound change, and product launch campaigns are no longer measured in front of the television or another medium such as the Internet, social networks, etc. but in front of the cell phone and this trend is firm and globalized today.
One can enter the site http://adsoftheworld.com/ and is with creativity exploited to the fullest. Without a doubt, the paradise of creatives where fresh and applicable ideas are observed.
We prepare on the basis of this a guerrilla action of the cell phone with the GPS and the traffic lights to be able to cross the streets blocking the cell phone, so that you pay attention in coordination with the different traffic lights of the city, and it can be seen in the app.net.semaphone
Even creative ideas must be adapted to the implicit concept of the brand and there are cases where the same product from a company, for example Unilever, with two brands such as AX and REXONA deodorants, have totally different and non-interchangeable concepts.
AX bases its advertising action on the aphrodisiac effect of deodorant against women and REXONA bases its advertising on the antiperspirant effect of forced labor and in hot situations.
There have been memorable product launch campaigns such as the iPhone 3g in 2007, the Microsoft Window 95, or Audi Maintenance Services 2010 or Ferrari Merchandising 2011, but even with an adequate budget the launch campaign is crucial in the marketing of a product or service.
Even history is full of copies of a concept and transfer to another product or service. Ritty, the owner of an Ohio restaurant in 1879, went on a pleasure trip with his family and during the tour of the ship they were invited to the ship's command room.
There he was impressed with a device that measures the number of turns of the ship's propellers and from there he jumps to the invention of a cash register of the number of sales of his premises.
With the assistance of several technicians, I manufacture a manual machine that registered the product for each item sold and then at the end of the day to add up the sales and the goods sold to make new replacement orders. When he perfected the machine after three years, he obtained the patent and sold the commercialization for a millionaire figure in his time.
SIT works by applying each of the five tools and a virtual product or service is obtained and then it works backwards looking for potential benefits with the principle of the "Function that follows the Form".
You can and should even mix the tools to enhance them. We start by listing the components of an advertising pitch:
The Service or Product
The value proposition of the commercial team
The brand
Advertising
Promotions
Sales team
Prices and financing
Branch offices
Maker
Users
Competitors
Here are just a few ideas for each tool but there are many more that are waiting for you.
1. Subtraction:
We will try to subtract a basic component for example the Service or Product which seems crazy to choose just this.
First we will see if there is more interest from users in another product or service of the company, and if that gives greater added value and benefits.
It will also provide options to account for expenses in advertising, promotions, distribution and commercial communications.
So you can be a first move even without having the service or product and this has already been tried by Volkswagen, Apple and other software companies, with the advantage of dissuading other competitors from entering the same market.
2. Multiplication:
We make a copy of the component but if possible with some counterintuitive modification.
For example, let's try to multiply the Competitors not only the original ones but also those that have been added with the same target, price, functions, accessories, etc. which will give the sales team an excellent approximation of the positioning of our Service or product.
We may wonder that we can cope with a similar and duplicate service or product, and still generate profit and prestige.
Gillette launched its Gillette shark, where it compares the consequences of not using this product versus using one of the old electric or blade razors. Advertising highlights the use of various micro-sharp blades versus razors that do not cut or irritate the face.
3. Division:
The division observes the process of the advertising campaign and rearranges the steps, for example suppose that we will try the division in the price of the service, placing this item at the end of the process.
If the product or service was dispatched to the distributors and the campaign already launched but we still do not have a final price.
Then the message could be: "Make a Pre purchase without knowing the price but indicate how much you would be willing to pay"
Then only the product or service is shipped to users that exceed the internal price established by the company.
This happened with the doll Tickle me Elmo (Tickle Elmo) in 1996 when its creator Dubren made a monkey that laughed at nothing just by tickling it, supported by the success of Sesame Street that season.
At Christmas the dolls were sold out because of the proposal to pay what they wanted, and it was in the history of toys one of the most resounding successes, selling more than thirteen million copies in two years. See
content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2049243_2048661_2049231,00.html # ixzz1ZpbALYjY
4. Unification:
This tool forces a component to take on a new function that it already fulfilled.
It is a tool that makes the most of all available resources, for example distributors of a product or service sometimes take additional discount or free service tasks with the purchase of a product.
Users can even take on additional tasks as requested by IKEA in assembling the furniture it sells.
In our example we can ask the sales team to be our competitors and this helps the sales team to improve the value proposition.
5. Attribute dependency
This tool uses attributes of a component instead of the component itself.
We take an internal and an external attribute of the product and then we create a connection where if one changes the other does too.
In the case of the launch campaign, if we know the exact value of our value proposition, we can give the distributors the alternative of charging a higher price for the service or product.
This frequently occurs in the sale of cars and appliances where more experienced dealers always give users alternatives to make them affiliated with the company, especially with financing plans and high-end users.
Sometimes the attribute is hidden and what advertising does is highlight this, leading to exaggeration.
This is the case with Snickers cereal bars whose 2011 advertising campaign shows in funny cartoons that a shark prefers to eat humans who have previously tasted a Snickers bar.
The Thinking Systematic Inventive in the Access to water in undeveloped countries
The proposal to invent products suitable for filtering non-potable water in developing countries by a North American company brought this series of products that are already marketed in several countries.
The company PUR Water Systems won several of the bids for its developments See
It is easy to observe the tools applied in each case.
Let's see:
1.Unification
It consists of assigning an additional task to an existing component. This tool forces a component to take on a new function that it already fulfilled.
For example backpackers will find a new experience in the Pur Trek because it is a backpack with the possibility of having up to three liters of filtered water from a river water at any moment.
Easily expandable from one to three liters, in biodegradable material and with a flat design, it offers a compartment for sediments and garbage and can keep the water in perfect condition for ten days.
When the water is filtered and when the filter is exhausted, they are indicated by changing colors.
2. Multiplication
It consists of making copies of a component but changing some of the attributes.
For example, the Pur-2-go is a system suitable for students and instantly filters household water, with two compartments, one to install in your kitchen and the other portable with a two-liter capacity.
That make it suitable for use in camping and doing life outdoors.
When the water is filtered and when the filter is exhausted, they are indicated by changing colors.
3. Division
It consists of dividing a component physically, functionally or by conservation. The division observes the filter equipment and rearranges the components. For example, the Pur Family Center is kept in the refrigerator with four bottles of different colors according to each family member and even the possibility of engraving their names on the external label.
Once a bottle is consumed, it can be quickly filled with fresh water and as it is portable it is highly recommended for fishing or trekking excursions.
4. Subtraction
It's about removing an essential component
For example the Pur Straw is a multi-award winning device for innovation. It is a portable filter useful for remote areas of Africa and Asia that purifies non-potable water from swamps and rivers. It is used by the military, travelers and anyone who wants to carry a lightweight filter that filters more than fifteen liters of water. When the filter runs out, it changes color and is replaced by another cartridge.
Attribute dependency
This tool uses attributes of a component instead of the component itself.
We take an internal and an external attribute of the product and then we create a connection where if one changes the other does too.
In other words, it is about creating new dependencies between attributes of a product and its environment.
For example, the Pur Fit All offers a flexible solution to different members and cultures because it is an elastic filter adaptable from two to five liters of water, and in various other capacities, having the possibility of loading non-potable water or potable water.
It can extend its useful life to more than thirty loads of non-potable water. When the water is filtered and when the filter is exhausted, they are indicated by changing colors.
Multiplication
We make a copy of the component but if possible with some counterintuitive modification.
For example EL Pur Shower avoids bathing with contaminated water that leads to infections.
The portable suitcase of fifteen, twenty and thirty liters of capacity, adaptable according to need, which has a filter that can be washed against the current since the water does not need to be totally drinkable.
There is a model that completely filters out any impurity and is water that is used both for washing and for drinking.
Subtraction
We will try to subtract a basic component and leave only the filter without another component, be it a suitcase, bottles, enclosures, etc…
For example, the Pur Globe is a versatile device that, due to its spherical shape, filters particles of 0.15 millimeters, in capacities of 1 to 3 liters per minute, using activated carbon.
When the water is filtered and when the sphere filter is exhausted, they are indicated by changing colors.
One can immerse this sphere filter in a barrel with non-potable water and shake to fill the sphere.
What makes it practical is that by having enhanced activated carbon, its useful life is two years and the filter is cleaned every four months with normal use of two liters per day.
" A creative person is one who knows how to use the information available and solves the problems that arise." Guilford.
