As a result of this column you and your organization will: Understand that recombination of existing technologies, people, ideas, and objects spawn innovations. Know that Henry Ford credited the “disassembly” lines of the Chicago meatpackers for the “original” idea of the assembly line. Recognize the non-obvious similarities between the two products or services and develop successful new innovation. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, right? Wrong! Edison’s system of electric lighting combined elements of the telegraph, the arc light, and the gas lighting industry. Innovations that recombine objects, ideas, and people that have emerged and evolved elsewhere can enjoy an enormous advantage in that they hit the ground running. Jim Taylor, President of Taylor Recycling in Montgomery NY said, “The DEC mandated better dust control in our processing center and no one in the industry could solve the problem. I then remembered the fine misting systems used in the produce sections of supermarkets and it worked wonders.” Behind most innovations is a process of recombination. Existing technologies, as well as combinations of people, ideas, and objects, are disassembled and reassembled in ways that spawn revolutions.

Henry Ford succeeded by bridging a wide range of industries together and building an organization that combined the best people, ideas, and objects he could find to build a car. Ford’s mass production system was revolutionary in its impact on the automobile industry, on manufacturing, and on society, but its origins drew on existing technologies.

In fact, the idea had been around since 1801, when Eli Whitney first presented ten identical horse pistols made from interchangeable parts to Congress. Ford himself credited the “disassembly” lines of the Chicago meatpackers for the original idea of the assembly line. Ford didn’t invent a new technology; he simply exploited technologies from other industries that were new to his industry.

Like Ford, Taylor is reshaping his industry. “Instead of building mountains of smelly garbage in landfills, we are now able to recycle 97% of all material. By looking for alternatives to eventually burying ourselves in garbage, we are able to recycle, conserving precious land and other assets for future generations,” Taylor says.

There are plenty of examples of innovations that were discovered by accident.

• The mold that inhibited the growth of bacteria revealed the potential of penicillin.
• Failed glue led to Post-it Notes.

The Reebok Pump concept emerged because one of the designers, who had previously designed an inflatable splint for the medical products industry, suggested that the company could prevent injuries by building ankle support into the shoe. The air pump was a creative solution and does help prevent injuries.

Stories are incomplete if we ignore the network of relationships with clients that provide a steady stream of proven ideas. For example, needing to create a pulsed lavage, a medical product used in emergency rooms for cleaning wounds, a firm recognized similarities between this problem and those of a previous product the organization had developed years earlier, a battery-powered squirt gun.

By recognizing non-obvious similarities between the two products, the team was able to rapidly combine the low- cost electric pump and battery power of the toy squirt gun to develop a successful new-pulsed lavage for cleaning wounds.

Business organizations realize that bridging distant worlds offers a way to avoid the traps that keep people locked into the old ways of doing things. People like Jim Taylor and Henry Ford fostered the habit of finding unexpected connections in each new person they met, each new idea they heard, and each new object they found.

Always look for the potential for new combinations from unrelated businesses to innovate in yours. This is a free and effective way to say ahead of your competitors.

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