Crosscuts

March 14, 2008. By Peter Lloyd

The collision of random ideas often results in the most interesting and exciting innovations. Like the French entomologist who, while examining a wasp's nest, got the idea of manufacturing paper from wood pulp.

Fortune magazine reports how the inventor of the gasoline lead replacement, MTBE, used ideas from his mother-in-law, barber, and secretary. Even quack science has played a role. Phrenology, which attempted to divine character and mental traits by studying bumps on the head, is said to have inspired the current science of mapping the brain.

When scientists from different disciplines get together and invent, they call it "crosscutting." That's what they call it today, but it's nothing new.

Two bicycle makers invented the airplane and a goldsmith invented the printing press.

From the Washington Post we learn that when Rita Rossi Colwell was director of the National Science Foundation, she worked on fighting cholera in India by looking at social as well as biological approaches to a solution. For example, in addition to attacking the bacterium, she considered getting Indian women to filter their drinking water through their sari cloths.

Creative people open themselves to diverse ideas. The more ideas they have floating around their heads, the better their chances of putting together a winning combination. They also increase their chances of success by using stimulation from random sources.

The next time you're stuck, stop focusing on the problem. Get up, go somewhere, and explore totally unrelated subjects. Your intuition, if you let it, will make some surprising combinations. If you listen to your intuition, you'll come up with some exciting solutions.

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

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