Questions and Answers (Part one)

Dear Michael,

"What is the most common mistake Doctor Inventors Make?"

Good question -- lots of answers. The first one that comes to my mind is that Doctors typically come up with good ideas for new devices and then never bother to pursue the idea further.

Another is to not properly document their ideas and yet another is to think that their idea is to obvious because no one thought of it before.

I like this short and sweet Q&A Format and will probably keep using it for awhile so keep checking this blog for more answers to commonly asked questions.

Google as Your Role Model

I was reading an article online about a journalists visit to Google. What struck me was how strong the Google philosophy came across -- a philosophy every inventor who wants to change the world should copy -- WORD FOR WORD!

Here are the key pieces from the article. Memorize them and repeat them 3 times a day:

1. Here at Google we change the world. Here we break the status quo, here we influence the world to make it a better place."

2. Google's management from the very top down -- never penalizes for failure. People aren't afraid to fail. The company's motto is clear and you can hear it from Larry and Sergei, the founders: We celebrate rapid movement, we celebrate rapid failures, we learn rapidly from failure and move on.

3. There's only one thing that frightens Google -- Not to be daring enough, not to be bold enough, not to think big.

Memorize the above 3 points and you are on your way to inventing the next really big thing in Medical Devices.

Don't Go with the flow - or the status quo

I love Einstein -- not because of what he accomplished -- but because he really and truly believed that he was right and the status quo was wrong. No exceptions.

I like when people go against the status quo and most inventors are successful when they go left while everyone else is going right.

The Creative Creativity Blog provides us with some great quotes from Albert Einstein on creativity and imagination. Notice how a lot of the quotes focus on the importance of the imagination (an inventor's best friend, MN). My favorite is "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

Enjoy the quotes and let your imagination help you invent the next big thing!!

If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

The mere formulation of a problem is far more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skills. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science.

The One Skill Every Inventor Must Have

Today's Post deals with the one skill each and every successful inventor must have in order to succeed.

You do not have to be highly intelligent to develop this skill. You do not need specialized training or higher education. You do not need years of experience or any kind of track record.

All you need is to do is to LISTEN.

That’s right. Just listen. Most people are not good listeners. They do not pay attention to what others are telling them and are too busy compiling their counter-points to what someone is saying – that they simply do not listen to the points being made. Many others believe that they know everything and do not even give others a chance to tell them anything. They talk and talk and do not let anyone else get a word in edgewise.

The following are a few basic situations where Doctor Inventors should be listening very carefully to what others are telling. By listening very carefully you will be able to learn about various problems -- and then you can invent solutions to them.

Listen to your patients and their families.

Listen to other doctors at seminars and conferences.

Listen to nurses, technicians, and all your co-workers.

Mark Twain said it best – “If you are talking, you aren’t learning.”

The corollary is if you are listening you are on your way to inventing.

A Great First Step for Brain and Nervous Systems Inventions

Med Tech Sentinel provides us with the Top-10 Neuroscience Trends of 2007.

You should use these trends as a good first step for inventing solutions to brain and nervous-system disorders.

Good luck

The top-10 trends of 2007, expected to heavily influence the future treating brain and nervous-system disorders, are as follows:

1. Advancing discovery tools underpin innovation: Beyond biochips and brain imaging, recent advances in neuroinformatics, image-based neural circuit analysis, and neural computation are accelerating the pace of neuroscientific discovery beyond what was imagined a decade ago.

2. Neuroimmunology leading to new treatment targets: The discovery that immune molecules play a crucial role in shaping neuronal connections opens up new treatment targets for Alzheimer’s, autism, ALS, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, and nerve injury.

3. National Neurotechnology Initiative: Momentum is growing for the new $200 million/year federal R&D initiative aimed at accelerating translational neurotech innovation and improving the effectiveness of FDA review process for neuroscience drugs, devices and diagnostics.

4. Neurodevice interfaces improve prosthetics and treatments: Advanced brain-machine interfaces enable the severely handicapped to independently compose e-mails and operate a TV in their homes. Other neurodevices provide functional stimulation for the treatment of pain, Parkinson’s, obesity, and psychiatric disorders.

5. Addiction advances: New research clarifies the role of drugs on sleep, cocaine’s potency, and the brain changes that occur due to abuse leading to new treatment strategies for this epidemic impacting over 1.1 billion worldwide.

6. Normal aging brain gets more attention: More research and development is being focused on thinking impairments that only partially limit independence and quality of life for senior citizens, adults and school aged children. Neurosoftware will penetrate nursing homes and schools, as brain fitness software becomes new first-line treatment strategy.

7. Regenerating the spinal cord: New experimental therapies in development could open the doors for research to improve treatments for people with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, stroke, and other severe movement disorders.

8. Prevention evidence grows: You are what you eat; smoking is as bad as we thought; and new studies reveal the effects of environmental substances on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and others.

9. Emotional disorders research advances: New research continues to link neurogenesis to treatment of depression. A better understanding of PTSD should lead to new treatment regimes.

10. Neuroscience infiltrates society: From neuroeconomics to neuroesthetics to neuroethics and neurolaw, the influence of neuroscience on society continues to grow.

According to NIO — which represents the 500 drug, device and diagnostics companies that are developing treatments for the brain and nervous system — the economic burden of brain-related disorders has reached more than $1 trillion in the U.S. alone. Worldwide, roughly two billion people suffer from brain-related illnesses.

Don't Have Any Great Ideas- Don't Brainstorm - "Edgecraft" Instead

One of my most favorite role models -- Seth Godin -- teaches that the best way to find new ideas is via a process called "edgecraft." According to Seth, edgecraft is a methodical, measurable process that allows individuals and teams to identify inexorably the soft innovations that live on the edges. It can be done quickly or over long periods of time. And you can even do it by yourself (Seth's does his edgecraft in the shower, I do mine when I go on very long walks late at night.

Seth's edgecraft is a straightforward process:

1. Find an edge--a free prize that has been shown to make a product or service (in someone else's industry) remarkable.
2. Go all the way to that edge--as far from the center as the consumers you are trying to reach dare you to go.

Seth says that brainstorming might create the occasional breakthrough, but edgecraft can inexpensively and quickly churn out lots of ideas--good ideas and sometimes great ideas. Ideas you can rapidly implement. If people aren't blown away, they won't talk about it. If they don't talk about it, then it doesn't spread fast enough to help you grow.

There are hundreds of available edges--things you can add to, subtract from, or do to your product or service. Here are a few to consider.

Technology. Moore's Law says that every 18 months, the power of computer chips you can buy for a dollar doubles. This opens two kinds of opportunity. The first is at the cutting edge. Xbox and PlayStation pack supercomputer power into video-game machines. If you could add a supercomputer to your product or service, what would it do? The second approach is to take advantage of the cheap part of the curve. Yesterday's technology is always (much) cheaper. The latest innovation: The $11 digital camera. If computer chips were a penny, how would you use them?

Design aesthetic. Design is the single highest-leverage investment you can make. A well-designed product is usually cheaper to make and service than what you're doing now. It will also improve sales because people notice it and talk about it. Not only the user interface but also the entire user experience is now dictated by design. Of all the edges I know, embracing amazing design is the easiest, the fastest, and the one with the most assured return on investment.

According to Seth, A 9-year-old can do edgecraft. While the edges always change, the process never does:

1. Find a product or service that's completely unrelated to your industry.
2. Figure out who's winning by being remarkable.
3. Discover what edge they went to.
4. Do that.

Crest figured out how to make money with remarkably cheap electric toothbrushes. What if companies such as Gillette or Henckels or Oster or Braun or Playtex or Toro or Sony decided to go to the same edge in their industry?

Don't copy the specific tactics. Figure out how you can get to the same edge but in a different way.

Try to edgecraft -- it should lead to remarkable ideas for new medical devices.

Making Time to Invent the Next Big Thing in Medical Devices

Everyone knows that time is the great equalizer in this world. Everyone has a flat twenty-four hours in a day—nothing more and nothing less. Everyone also knows that successful people get a lot more out of those twenty-four hours than average people.

Time management is hard, and it’s a flawed concept.

You really can’t manage time. It is finite. What we all know and talk about really is how we can manage ourselves better. So, really, if you want to manage your time better, you have no choice but learn to manage yourself better.

Rajesh Setty wrote a manifesto entitled: Making the Most of Your Time: Going Beyond To-Do Lists

Please download it here, read it and hopefully you will then be able to find time to invent life saving and quality of life improving medical devices.