The Pattern Tool

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The Pattern Tool

April 20, 2011. By Peter Lloyd

History repeats itself. So do inventions and innovations, ads and art, books, plays, movies, songs, symphonies, aging uncles, and kids in the back seats of cars on long trips. Face it. We humans are pattern-seekers. And, by golly, we will find patterns whether they exist or not. Worse, we believe they exist, hunt them down, and even spread war stories of our exploits.

So it is with not a little hesitation that I point to some patterns that others claim will enable and enhance your creativity and ability to invent and innovate.

Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.
—Michael Shermer

In the 70s, ad guy Donald Gunn fell into the trap of the Pattern-Seeking Fallacy when he identified his 12 Master Formats of tv commercials. See this quick but comprehensive review by Seth Stevenson for Slate.

Then along came Jacob Goldenberg and his co-authors who say there are only eight templates underneath most successful television commercials in Cracking the Ad Code.

Around 1946, inventors got in the game with TRIZ, “a problem-solving, analysis and forecasting tool derived from the study of patterns of invention in the global patent literature,” devised by Soviet inventor Genrich Altshuller. It would hardly be fair to point out that he was also a science fiction writer, so ignore that.

Altshuller and his colleagues uncovered 40 Principles of Invention after an examination of some 40-thousand inventions. The TRIZ method helps inventors identify and apply these Principles to their invention challenges.

Drew Boyd of Innovation in Practice provides a step-by-step process to help you “invent new products or services using templates.”

While I cringe whenever I see creative, invention, or innovation formulas, I appreciate their use as a tool. So much so, that I invented Animal Crackers with my pal Stephen R. Grossman. It helps you find animal adaptations you can use as metaphors to solve your problems. Before Animal Crackers, Marco Masan and I urged you to “Look at Your Neighbor’s Paper” in Think Naked. That is, never start from scratch when you invent. Always begin your creative efforts where your creative forebears have left off. Use their highest achievements as your starting point.

The paradox: Working with patterns works, whether they exist or not.

The caveat: Never get into the pattern rut. Exam all the pattern tools available. Use whichever tool you prefer. Just don’t become one.

See also: The Pattern-Seeking Fallacy

Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen R. Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.

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