(An article by Alex Moore read
on innovationmanagement.se on 4th April, 2017)
Nowadays, the words “innovation” and “creativity” get
thrown around a lot in the business and academic
world. But the road to making successful innovations
is filled with challenges, opportunities taken or
missed, and plenty strikes of luck. Often, people
invent machines to face a recurrent problem. These
inventions, in turn, spawn other inventions and
innovation. These types of inventions have the most
impact on society. Here’s looking at three inventions
that have changed our lives forever.
The Sewing Machine
Although Elias Howe is credited with the invention of
the sewing machine, he actually wasn’t its first
inventor. According to Cambridge History, as many as
four patents for sewing machine prototypes existed
before he invented the machine that would cause a
gigantic shift in easing the burden of domestic
chores.
Howe’s invention was one born of necessity. He
himself suffered from a type of disability that made
his life as a physical labourer very challenging. In
fact, at one time, this disability forced him to
abandon the workforce. To pick up the financial slack,
his wife took on odd sewing jobs to help the family
make ends meet.
Howe’s challenges with finances, as well as his
physical challenges, played a role in motivating him
to create a more efficient sewing machine. Actually,
initially, he was interested in making a machine that
could knit.
Being told that he’d make more money from the
invention of the sewing machine, he was persuaded to
build the sewing machine. It took him a couple of
years to figure out how a sewing machine works or
should work, however.
In the beginning, he was only able to sew the seams
of clothes. Eventually, he created the machine that
earned him the patent number #4750 and allowed him to
sew pretty much everything.
The Mill Museum website
suggests that the invention of the sewing machine
helped women prove that they could operate complex
machinery. It also revolutionized the sewing trade and
it became the symbol of the industrial working woman.
The Gutenberg Printing Press
Could you imagine having to write a book out by hand?
In the 1400s, this was the way to do it, mostly.
Making books of any kind required a great deal of
patience and labour. While many people consider the
Gutenberg press the first printing press, it wasn’t –
it was one in a series, according to Live Science. However,
it was the first movable type press of any importance.
The Chinese are credited with inventing the precursor
to the printing press. More than half a millennium
before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press,
the Chinese used block prints to print out their
works.
In fact, one of the oldest surviving Buddhist
manuscripts, “The Diamond Sutra,” was printed using
this method. In some respects, the Gutenberg press
built on what the Chinese had already learned about
the printing press.
Innovations often arise from the work or
ideas of others.
And certainly, the hatching and development of ideas
– lots of ideas – are some of the most important first
steps the inventor can take, according to Innovation
Management. More specifically, a person inventing
something must be willing to have a lot of ideas (a
few bad ones) to invent something worth having.
So it was with the printing press. This machine,
which revolutionized the dissemination of information
and of books in mass quantities, was the product of
many ideas that had been adapted and improved upon.
For example, a modified wine press gave Gutenberg the
screws he needed for part machine and linseed oil and
soot became the ink.
Quite fascinating, isn’t it?
The Automobile
This great invention that helped people move past the
horse and buggy as a means of travel also spawned a
great number of creative endeavours. According to a University of Michigan report,
the automobile changed the landscapes of America.
The invention of the car necessitated the creation of
the highways and byways that criss-cross America.
This, in turn, also had an impact on how communities
got clustered together.
But cars brought more than just communities with
them. The concept of the roadside diner and motels
arose from the automobile industry, at least
indirectly. Tourists traveling about the country
needed places to stay and eat. What people now think
of as modern businesses like McDonald’s or Holiday Inn
really are in some respects the children of the
roadside food shacks that began appearing beside the
road in the early years of the automobile.
Naturally, these cars also needed a way to refuel,
which led to the construction of gas stations and
eventually, even truck stops. The way people interact
with their communities and their neighbors today is
thanks in large part to the invention of the
automobile all those years ago.
Final Thoughts
Studying the innovations of the past gives us several
instructive lessons about the nature of creativity.
Often, the most creative ideas people have come about
because the inventor was struggling with a problem.
Other times, the inventor has a great number of ideas
to build upon. And the best inventions often spark the
need for other inventions and innovations. It’s a
circular process that produces a never-ending cycle of
new ideas and products.
Don’t let the fear of going over budget, the fear of
standing up alone, or the fear of failing step in your
way of creating something with the potential to change
people’s life. That’s why we are here. To help one
another, to create, to explore and leave a statement
of our most courageous acts, out most enduring
efforts, our most burning passions.
About the author
Alex Moore is a professional sewer. Alex believes
that to be able to innovate, you must accept and
work with what is, welcome error and failure, and
risk starting all over again. No matter who you are,
or where you are, you can certainly prove to
yourself you can do it if you allow yourself to fail
enough times.
