IN THIS ISSUE:

• Letter From Sarah
• Out of the Box - Excerpt: Inventing the Future,
  Part 1
• TableStakes™
• Events and Resources
• About Sarah Caldicott

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Dear Innovator:

Have you ever tried to imagine something before it's actually happened? Imagining the future is one of the most unique challenges faced by innovators of every stripe. Despite its rigors, developing new visions for what lies ahead is crucial to innovation success.

Most measures used to evaluate innovation outcomes relate to research dollars invested, number of customers served, revenue generated, or units sold. While these metrics provide helpful barometers of progress, "inventing the future" requires many less tangible skills which must nonetheless be cultivated if they are to be fruitfully applied.

Consider the challenge now faced by Libya and Tunisia. Both have been recently freed from the tyranny of dictators. Tunisians took part in their first-ever national election just days ago. What kind of future will these two nations develop? Do they have the imagination and vision to create something wholly new?

To accelerate development of futuristic technologies and services, many leading organizations have dedicated resources to developing future scenarios that vault ahead 10 years or more. Here's a recently released video from Microsoft Envision Labs that imagines how we will be living and working in 2019. The video projects that touch-screen technologies will be an integral part of our daily lives...from coffee cups to augmented reality retail displays.

Whether stepping into new territory as part of a social innovation effort, technology platform change, or business model shift - the power of imagination and vision must be guiding assets.

HOW THOMAS EDISON INVENTED THE FUTURE

Sarah's 60-page ebook "Inventing the Future" will be released by John Wiley & Sons publishers on Nov. 2nd

I recently had a chance to put my knowledge of Edison's techniques for envisioning the future to the test. Just a few weeks ago, Wiley & Sons publishing asked me to develop a brief companion ebook for a TEDx talk I'm giving on November 4th. The ebook not only includes themes from my speech - which is entitled "Inventing the Future, Edison Style" - the ebook contains a futuristic look at six projects Thomas Edison would be undertaking today.

While developing these six future-facing perspectives, I applied several tools Edison used in creating his own future visions.  I considered the diverse needs of our nation and our world today, then leveraged three techniques which Edison consistently employed in conceptualizing the future: drawings, analogies, and fantastical stories.

In this month's Out of the Box segment you'll find a brief excerpt from Chapter 3 of the new ebook. The excerpt reveals my thoughts on how Edison's understanding of batteries, fuel cells, and electrical power could be harnessed to create a future transportation network. Plus...it includes a drawing from the ebook depicting Edison's conception of the fuel cell - in 1883!
   
In Chapter 4 of the ebook, you'll find specific steps you can take to begin conceiving the future the way Edison did. Purchase your copy of Inventing the Future: What Would Thomas Edison Be Doing Today? today for the iPad, Nook, or Kindle.

Don't miss the TEDx speech which inspired the ebook! On November 4th, you can listen to an entire day of presentations sponsored by TEDxPeachtree (Atlanta) themed around Breakthroughs. My speech begins at 3 PM EST, highlighting how Edison's use of drawings, analogies, and fantastical stories all enabled him to create breakthrough visions of the future. (For those of you who tweet, the event hashtag is #tedxpt.)

Check out this month's Events & Resources for the live stream web link!

SIMULATING THE FUTURE - TABLESTAKES INNOVATION GAME, EDISON AWARDS
Looking for a way to stimulate innovation in your team or organization? TableStakes is a unique value creation game offering an innovation simulation experience for up to 40 people. Read more in this month's TableStakes section.

Plus...don't forget to nominate outstanding products and services you believe are deserving of an Edison Award! Only one month remains until nominations close. Go to www.edisonawards.com  to submit your nomination in any one of 12 categories today.

Remember to watch the Nov. 4th TEDxPeacthree webcast at 3 PM EST. Whether you view it live or catch it a few days later on YouTube, send me a note on Twitter, Facebook,  or  LinkedIn with your feedback!

Keep innovating,

PS: Please share this newsletter with a co-worker or a friend!

Connect with Sarah

Out of the Box

Part 1: Excerpt from "Inventing the Future: What Would Edison Be Doing Today?"

In keeping with this month's theme of imagining the future, here is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of my new ebook Inventing the Future. The excerpt reveals one of six concepts I believe Thomas Edison would be working on today. See if you agree with my thinking!

Following this excerpt is a table illustrating five of Edison's top 10 most extraordinary innovations. The first five were invented in only 7 years! Have a look, and see how many of these technologies you interact with on a daily basis.

Excerpt, Chapter 3:

      What if we could take all the skills and capabilities Edison developed during his lifetime, and fast-forward them to today? What would he be working on in the twenty-first century? Would he be an inventor, a scientist, or a computer geek? Would he have established more than 150 companies, as he did during the course of his 62-year career? Which of the many challenges we're experiencing in our modern lives would he be tackling? Would he be a bigger-than-life personality, or operating behind the scenes?

      By considering these possibilities, we can strengthen our own imagination, and release roadblocks that may be preventing us from seeing pathways to solutions eluding us today. We may be able to envision the future simply by imagining how America's greatest inventor would be spending his time in the twenty-first century. Edison believed that nothing could be created without it first being imagined. So let's begin imagining!

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Concept #5: Fuel Cells and Battery-Powered Roads

 

      Two of the most significant innovations of all time—Edison's development of the incandescent electric light and the system of electrical power—revolutionized commerce on a global scale. For the first time in history, the power grid made it possible for homes and businesses to receive power from a central source. Designing the electric light and the power grid required an intensive understanding of chemistry and materials science—particularly metals and insulation compounds.

      As the popularity of electrical power grew, Edison realized that people were not always near a wired power source. They were not always in a place where a power grid existed. Farmers, for example, didn't have power in the middle of their fields. Miners didn't have power at the base of a mine shaft. Realizing that there was a market for "portable power," Edison went on to invent the world's first alkaline storage battery in 1905. His invention shifted the prevailing chemistry behind battery technology—which relied upon liquid chemicals as well as lead—to metals-based chemistry. The Edison storage battery was light enough for an individual to carry or transport without special equipment, a major breakthrough that made batteries easy to carry and install.

      A further breakthrough in Edison's thinking about batteries only came to light recently. The Thomas Edison Papers staff, while researching Edison's work from the mid-1880s, came upon a drawing made in 1882 initially believed to be a precursor of Edison's storage battery technology nearly 20 years later. But in fact, the drawing shown below actually represents a fuel cell. (Image used with permission.)

      

Edison's Fuel Cell         This 1883 notebook drawing reveals Edison's conception of a fuel cell roughly 20 years before he designed his alkaline storage battery. Twenty-first-century scientists have yet to perfect the fuel cell.

      Designed to allow the direct conversion of coal to electricity, Edison received a patent on a fuel cell in May 1882, and applied for two more patents the following year. Although Edison never commercially introduced a fuel cell, he was one of a long line of scientists who envisioned fuel cells as part of the expanding world of electrical power. You can read more by clicking on this link, which will take you to a brief article about Edison's fuel cells written by Edison expert Dr. Paul Israel.

      If we combine Edison's expertise with electrical currents, batteries, and fuel cells with his work in developing efficient production processes for Portland Cement, we see the underpinnings of this next concept.

      There is no question that in the twenty-first century, Edison would be tackling steep challenges surrounding energy, sustainability, and their impact on modern transportation systems. Edison today would be developing smart, battery-powered roads that could interact with smart fuel cells housed in transportation vehicles.

      Edison would see huge value in developing a smart fuel cell that could power a single vehicle for days, weeks, or even months at a time. Roughly the size of a large pizza, Edison's fuel cells would efficiently and safely store energy, as well as be rechargeable via solar power or other alternative sources. Each fuel cell would also house a microcontroller enabling it to interact dynamically with a select group of other power sources, specifically "smart roads." Through these interactions, the power draw on the fuel cell could either be increased, decreased, or turned off.

      A brilliant systems designer, Edison would complement the power of his fuel cells by developing a new type of smart road surface that dynamically interacts with vehicles rather than being passive and inert. Through creating networks of tiny batteries and microchips, Edison would design a roadway surface that actually transmitted power to transportation vehicles traveling along the road itself. Designed in "smart sections," each section would contain a wireless network with dozens of batteries and microprocessors, creating a distributed power network—like a mini-power station. Made using green or carbon-neutral substances, this smart roadway surface would interact with vehicles using Edison's smart fuel cells—or other advanced hybrid batteries—that traveled on the road, contributing to the power needs of that vehicle.

      Some of the battery power for the smart roadway would lie embedded along the outer edges of the road's surface. These outer edges would be made of a transparent compound derived from recycled plastic. Governed by microprocessors and designed to capture energy from the sun, the tiny batteries housed within this plastic outer strip would continuously—and wirelessly—"recharge" the network of batteries lying embedded within the central portion of the roadway. To prevent vandalism, these plastic outer strips would only function properly when placed in proximity to the smart road surface itself. In areas where sunlight is less prevalent, the plastic outer strip could be powered through other sources, such as wind turbines positioned at intervals along the smart roadway.

      The smart surface laid down along the center of the roadway would be comprised of an aggregate of carbon neutral materials derived from natural as well as man-made sources. Chips and sensors embedded in this aggregate could detect the oncoming approach of vehicles from any direction. When a vehicle was in motion, special RFID tags (radio frequency identification) and near-field communication chips placed within each vehicle would transmit to the road the power load required to propel that particular vehicle. Through this dynamic communication process, hybrid vehicles and vehicles powered by Edison's smart fuel cells, would automatically shift a portion of their power load to the road, reducing the amount of power required for the vehicle to propel itself. Power sources within the smart road would only be "turned on" when vehicles were actually driving on it.

The Edison Top 10: Thomas Edison's Greatest Innovations,
Listed Chronologically*

*Note: The first 5 of Edison's Top 10 Innovations are shown here.

Consider how many times in a single day you connect with the technologies and innovations revealed in this chart. And that's only half the story! See the rest of Edison's Top 10, and read another excerpt from Inventing the Future next month!

In The Next Issue – Inventing the Future, Part 2

TableStakes™

An Innovation Simulation Game

What happens when you combine Edison's Five Competencies of Innovationä with a fast-paced simulation game? You get a winning set of outcomes that can lead to innovation success!

Called TableStakes™, this unique simulation game was developed with the belief that experiencing the innovation process leads to a deep and lasting understanding of how innovation works. TableStakes is designed to create an intensive one-day innovation simulation environment for up to 40 people.

Themed around a specific goal or challenge, the game walks players through a concept development process, then creates a marketplace forum where concepts are evaluated using a series of investment criteria.

TableStakes allows leaders to reignite innovation at diverse levels within their organization, yielding measurable, prioritized innovation outcomes that can be actioned immediately.

Here are some of the outcomes which can emerge from the game:

1. Collaborative thinking across a diverse group of stakeholders.
2. A common language around innovation.
3. Prioritization of winning ideas, based on "bets" from players and audience members.
4. Insights into diverse short-, medium-, and long-term innovation scenarios.
5. Innovation pipeline shifts that enhance flexibility to weather environmental "shocks."

For more information on how your organization can benefit from TableStakes, contact Sarah at info@powerpatterns.com.

Events and Resources

About Sarah Caldicott

Sarah Miller Caldicott is a great grandniece of Thomas Edison, a 25-year marketing veteran, and co-author of "Innovate Like Edison: The Five-Step System for Breakthrough Business Success." She has assembled teams of highly experienced consultants and trainers to assist her in bringing Edison's Five Competencies of Innovation™ to organizations of all sizes. Sarah and her teams are capable of addressing business challenges from a diverse array of industries, in either a business-to-consumer or business-to-business environment.

Sarah is a dynamic and award-winning speaker, whose engaging style combines substantive business content with humor. Her invaluable experience offers an ideal resource for organizations seeking innovation success in today's rapidly integrating global marketplace.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Sarah received a BA from Wellesley College, where she was named a Wellesley College Scholar. She also holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Sarah resides in Oak Park, Illinois, and has two teenage boys, Nicholas and Connor. For additional information on Sarah, click here.

©2011 by Sarah Miller Caldicott. All Rights Reserved.