Page 90 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

37/1 I. DIRECT ANALOGIES

In a direct analogy facts, knowledge, or technology from one
field are applied to another. Biology is a fertile field for such
analogies. For example, scientists and engineers at Oregon
State University have examined spiders and other bugs in
an attempt to improve the agility of robots. According to
one of the researchers, Eugene F. Fichter, "They're magnifi-
cent models for walking machines." Insects and spiders are
filmed and their motions analyzed by computers to see
whether they can be emulated by much heavier robots."
Similarly, scientists in England have developed new optical
storage disc patterns by using the unusual eye structures of
moths as an analogy. A host of products is expected to evolve
from the new designs, including inexpensive medical diag-
nostic kits, map projection systems for automobiles, and
glare-free instruments and computer screens. 2°

A few years ago a manufacturer of potato chips was faced
with a frequently encountered problem: Potato chips took
up too much space on the shelf when they were packed
loosely, but they crumbled when they were packed in smaller
packages. The manufacturer found a solution by using a
direct analogy. What naturally occurring object is similar to
a potato chip? How about dried leaves? Dried leaves
crumble very easily, however, and are bulky. The analogy
was a good one. What about pressed leaves? They're flat.
Could potato chips somehow be shipped flat, or nearly flat?
Unfortunately, the problem of
crumbling remained. Con-
tinuing the creative pro-
cess, the decision makers

realized that leaves are not 101
pressed while they are dry but while they are moist. They CREATIVE
determined that if they packed potato chips in a stack, moist PROBLEM
enough not to crumble but dry enough to be flat, or nearly
flat, they might just solve the problem. The result, as you SOLVING
may have guessed, was Pringle's." TECHNIQUES

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