In 1885 Karl Benz invented the first true automobile. It had many of the same features we see today. It was gasoline powered, used an internal combustion engine and sat on a chassis.
Cars have been around for over 130 years and yet inventors keep making them better.
Today, cars will stop if they detect you’re going to have a crash. If you need to warm up your car, you can start it from your smartphone. But why drive at all? Cars can do that on their own now too.
Just because something has been around for a long time doesn’t mean innovation has to stop. There is always a better way or a leap forward. The only limit is one’s imagination.
One of the things that fascinated me as a kid was a story about my great, great grandfather. He came over from Italy in the early 1900’s. I never had a chance to meet him and I don’t know much about him. What I do know is that he was an inventor. In 1927 he created the first turn signals for cars.
11 years later his idea started to go mainstream. Buick, one of the major automakers started putting this new invention to work.
Imagine solutions & take action
Growing up I was always thinking of ways to solve problems. My imagination ran wild with ideas.
I still remember one that came to me in the shower one day. At the time I thought it was brilliant.
Every time I took a shower, I grabbed my bar of soap, rubbed it on a wash cloth and then cleaned my body. Then it hit me. It would be easier if the soap fit into a pocket of the washcloth and I could just grab it and get clean. This was no Snuggie, but I thought it was pretty good at the time.
Here’s the problem. I never went any further. It would have been simple to sew a pocket into a washcloth and prove the idea. I could have improved on it as I saw what worked and didn’t work. Eventually, I could have turned it into a little business. But I didn’t.
I’ve found that if you don’t take action on your ideas, someone else will. Go to Amazon and search for a “soap pouch sponge.” There are at least 20 different options of this invention for sale today.
We are all inventors
Everyone can invent. It takes curiosity, imagination and drive, but anyone can do it.
When I think about curiosity and imagination, I think kids. Kids don’t have the burden of “knowing” what can’t be done. This frees the imagination and great things can from it.
Look at Marissa Streng, a 3rd grader who participated in an invention contest a few years ago. She loved her dog, loved giving him baths, but could never get him dry. So she invented the Puff-N-Fluff, a dog drying system.
Inventions can be anything. They can be physical items, like the Puff-N-Fluff or a new word. Did you know the word “selfie” didn’t exist before 2013? Some people invent music, a new sport or software. The list goes on and on.
Go on, be crazy
One thing I always remember is that everything we use today got invented by someone. If they can do it, why can’t I?
It’s daunting to think about creating a magical device like the iPhone. But what about the Snuggie? This is a great example of taking something that’s existed for 1,000’s of years and making a small tweak. Putting sleeves on a blanket is a terrific idea, but all it took was a little imagination.
I’ve also learned that when I share ideas about some inventions, a lot of people think I’m crazy. I try not to worry about those opinions. If someone can’t see the potential, it doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.
Back in 2007, I was working at Bazaarvoice. We created software to capture and display reviews on retail websites. I had an idea to sell this software to the companies that made the products that retailers sold.
This was the first part of the idea. If I could get our software on those sites, I could take all the reviews and share them with the retail websites. This would give them more reviews and help them sell more products. This was a win-win for the store and the people making the products.
I remember a meeting with the executive team where I explained the idea. Everyone thought I was crazy. Someone even said “Those companies will never put reviews on their site.” Whether it was sheer determination or a deep belief in the idea, I pressed on.
In the first few months, I signed on 3 major customers. After a year, the idea was taking off. Within 2 years, this part of the business matched what we were doing in sales of our core business.
Many years later, on my birthday of all things, the US Patent Office granted the patent for this idea.
New inventions can come from anywhere. They can be wild and crazy ideas or they can be simple improvements on existing ones. The more I let my imagination run free, the more great ideas come.
This post is part of a series of letters to my kids. My goal is to reflect on and capture as many life lessons as possible. Here is the current list I am working from.
