When I was in college, I took an "invention" course. In the first class, the teacher asked us such a question: the film camera has a major design defect. If you accidentally open the back cover of the camera, all the photos you take will be exposed. So, please improve this product, what will you do?
Reverse thinking
We are frying. Some students said, add a lock to the back cover of the camera, and don't let it open until it is finished; Some students said that there was a film box in the filming place, from film box to film box; Some students said that in the cover of the camera, add another cover; Double protection to prevent misoperation.
To tell the truth: listen to how the old lady designed it. Put the film in the camera, automatically hand in all the blanks first, roll it out of the film box, then take one picture, and then take another picture back to the film box in turn until all the pictures are taken. In this case, if the back cover of the camera is opened, only blank paper will be exposed.
The old lady applied for a patent for her design, and then sold it to Kodak Company at a patent fee of 700,000 dollars.
Can you imagine? I was stunned. Is this idea difficult? It's not difficult at all. It doesn't even change the design of the camera at all, but changes the direction of the gear motor. This powerful thinking tool used by the old lady is called reverse thinking.
What is reverse thinking? Reverse thinking refers to this way of thinking from the opposite side of things. This way of thinking often leads to creative solutions to problems. In the business world, people who succeed by reverse thinking abound.
How to train?
So how can we get this kind of reverse thinking? It's not complicated. We just lack training.
First of all, the structure is reversed
The old lady actually used the thinking mode of "reverse structure" and solved the big problem by reversing the gear motor.
For another example, our mobile phones are all displayed in the front, but what happens if you turn the picture upside down? In this way, you can put your mobile phone on the dashboard of the car, and the picture of the navigation software will be reflected on the front windshield and become the front. You can see the front windshield navigation without looking down at the mobile phone.
Second, the function is reversed.
For example, the function of thermos is to keep warm. You think backwards from this function, can it keep cold? So there is an ice bucket.
The purpose of air conditioning is cooling. Can you heat it in turn at the same time? We know the principle of air conditioning refrigeration, that is, cooling through indoor to outdoor heat exchange. So some institutions export the heat exchanged by air conditioners to the kitchen for heating, which becomes a domestic hot water system.
Third, the state is reversed.
For example, people take the stairs, but people don't move them. Can you reverse this state? People don't move, the stairs move, so there is an escalator.
Workers saw the wood, but the wood didn't move and saw it. Can you reverse this state? The saw doesn't move, the wood moves, so there is a desktop chainsaw.
Fourth, the principle is reversed.
The principle of hair dryer is to use electricity to create the flow of air, and the direction is to blow to objects. Can this principle be used in reverse? The air is still flowing, but in the opposite direction, so there is an electric vacuum cleaner.
The principle of a motor is to use electricity to generate a magnetic field, and then the magnetic field moves an object. Can we also use this principle in reverse? Let the movement produce a magnetic field, and the magnetic field produces electricity, so there is a generator.
Fifth, the order is reversed.
Reverse order is to reverse the order and position. For example, if a rocket shoots into the sky, can it shoot into the ground in turn? The former Soviet Union studied a drilling rocket, which can penetrate rocks and frozen soil, with lighter weight and lower energy consumption. ""
In the zoo, you keep animals in cages and people walk around watching. Can you reverse this state? People are locked in cages and animals are everywhere, so there is a wildlife park where you can drive around.
Sixth, the method is reversed.
There is a strange kind of horse racing that is slower than anyone's horse. Almost all the two horses in the race stopped and moved half a step forward after dark. Can you do it in another way? Let two riders exchange horses, and they will finish the race in an instant.
Do you feel that your brain is wide open? Innovation is sometimes not a sudden genius idea, but the inevitable result of a correct way of thinking. You don't lack innovation, you just lack innovative thinking tools.
summary
Reverse thinking refers to a way of thinking from the opposite side of things. This method often leads to creative problem-solving methods. The business community especially needs the ability and training of reverse thinking.
Six training methods: structure inversion, function inversion, state inversion, principle inversion, sequence inversion and method inversion. These six kinds are not all. In fact, there is no complete list of reverse thinking. If you think about it, it may be endless.