Page 100 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

45/19. INPUT-OUT PUT

This technique, developed by General Electric for use in its
creative engineering program, helps identify new ways to
accomplish an objective, as illustrated in the following
example: 28
A dynamic system can be classified according to its (1) in-
put, (2) output, and (3) limiting requirements or specifica-
tions. For example in designing a device to automatically
shade a room during bright sunlight, the problem can be
defined as follows:

(3 ) SPECIFICATIONS — Must be usable on
various sized windows, must admit no
more than 20 foot-candle illumination
anywhere in the room, must not cost more
than $100 per 40 square foot window.

(1)

Once the definition is set up, means
of bridging the gap between input and

output are sought.

1 1 1 1 0.••sssss

At each step the question is asked: can this phenomenon (in- 101
put) be used directly to shade the window (desired output)? CREATIVE
Using the above example once again, we observe that solar PROBLEM
energy is of two types, light and heat. SOLVING
TECHNIQUES
Step 1: What phenomena respond to application of heat?
light? Are there vapors that cloud upon heating? 85
Gases expand, metals expand, solids melt. Are there
substances that cloud in bright light? Does light