6. Improving my Discovery Skills

The Innovator’s DNA is a powerful model for innovation. Once I learned what it was in class, I realized that it could be applied everywhere. A good way to develop my creativity is to practice using these five steps whenever possible. The first step is associating, which is connecting wildly different ideas, objects, services, technologies, and disciplines to create new inventions. To improve my own associating skills I thought of a problem that I know many people face, especially college students trying to save money and get the most bang for their buck. One late night in my dorm I was getting ready to brush my teeth when I realized that I was extremely low on toothpaste, and the convenience store was closed so I couldn’t run and get more. Therefore, I had to squeeze the life out of my tube until I got the most miniscule amount onto my toothbrush. By associating unrelated ideas, I recalled times back home when my dad and I would make homemade pizza. To make the crust, I needed to use a rolling pin to get the dough as flat as possible. I realized that a rolling pin would have the same effect on a tube of toothpaste and get a lot more out of it than I could. I think a good invention would be a device that you can place your toothpaste tube into and it will automatically roll it out for you before each use.

The second innovator’s DNA step is questioning, which is challenging the status quo by asking a lot of questions to cultivate creative insight. I used this skill one Saturday when my parents were coming to visit me with my cousin from Ireland who was in town. He was very keen on seeing an American university so I wanted to give him a really fun experience. I started trying to plan my family’s visit when I discovered that it was actually pretty hard to figure out what is going on here at UMD on any given day. Sure, clubs and organizations will advertise upcoming events and meetings with flyers or sidewalk chalk in heavily trafficked areas, but as far as I know there isn’t one publicly accessible calendar or database that holds every upcoming event all together. So I used my innovator’s DNA discovery skill to ask, why not? In my current predicament, a public UMD calendar would have been very useful. Clubs could upload their events onto the schedule and then people could view it to plan out their upcoming events. I didn’t stop there. I then asked, what if the public calendar website became a sort of social media? Friends could add each other on the website (that would also double a smart phone app) and see what events each other was attending. This could blossom into a whole world of opportunities. For example, if someone saw that their friend was planning on going to a public service event, one of them could contact the other and arrange to go together. I even dared to ask, what if it became a sort of challenge? Students could be able to check in at every event. The more events a student went to, the more points they would earn to increase their score on the website. This would turn into a sort of challenge where friends would try to increase their score by getting more points than their friends. In addition, this healthy competition between students would benefit the university as a whole by increasing student involvement.

The third innovator’s DNA step is observing. This is described as taking note of a problem or struggle and acknowledging that it needs to be improved. I actually made a creative observation a few days after my inspiring visit to IDEO in New York. One day I was eating Oreos and I noticed that I kept running

into trouble when dunking them in milk. I enjoy a soft, milk-soaked cookie over a hard one. However, I hate getting milk all over my hands and also hate when the cookie gets too soft and breaks in half, sinking to the bottom, only to be retrieved as a soggy pile of milk at the bottom of the glass after I have finished the milk. This acute observation led me to come up with an innovative type of cup specifically for dunking cookies in milk. The cup would have a platform inside that could be shifted up and down the glass with a lever on the side. The cookie is placed on the platform and then lowered into the milk for the desired time. Then it is raised up after the preferred time and eaten. Although I know this prototype isn’t perfect, it helped get my creative juices flowing and proved that I can be creative when I set my mind to it. As long as I continue this type of behavior that I learned from IDEO, I will improve my skills tenfold.

The fourth innovator’s DNA discovery skill is networking, or making connections with many people. This is one of the most important skills that one can have in order to get a job in the future, especially a job in the business world. I decided to improve my networking by following the suggestion in the innovator’s DNA book, which was to following the mealtime networking plan. One week I messaged my friend Kayla to meet me for lunch at Noodles & Company. I am looking for a summer job back home in Annapolis and Kayla works at a bagel place called Naval Bagels. Over lunch I asked her what she likes and dislikes about working there and if it would be a good fit for me. The week after that I went to dinner with my friend Emma and her roommate, Chantel, who is trying to get into the business school like I am. Not only did I make a new friend, I got a new contact who could help encourage me to work hard to get into the Smith school. Next week I have already arranged to go to 251 North on Tuesday with my friend Michelle who is in Terps for Change, a community service club here at UMD that I am interested in joining. I hope to gain more information from her and tips on getting into the club.

The fifth and final discovery skill is experimenting, which is how people try new things and test ideas in order to gain new insight. I did this recently in the dining hall when I encountered an issue. I had stopped into the diner to quickly get a cup of water before I headed off to study at McKeldin. I got a cardboard cup and filled it until I realized that there were no more lids left. I thought about just abandoning my cup of water but then I realized I would regret it when I was thirsty later on. Instead, I went over to the coffee station and decided I would try to see if a coffee cup lid would fit the same on a Pepsi cup. It turns out that the lid fit perfectly and didn’t spill a thing! I’m glad I decided to find a solution to my problem by experimenting with a different lid. I didn’t want to walk so far with an uncovered cup of water because it would splash on me and make me cold.