THE PRINCIPLE

Combining two ideas or things can lead to something new

One way that new things emerge is by combining the essence of two existing things. For example:

Phone + copier = fax machine

Home movies + internet = YouTube

Video game + exercise = Nintendo Wii

Bicycle + carriage = rickshaw

One you may be less familiar with: Sleeping bag + sheets = thin ‘body envelopes’ you take with you when you travel so you don’t have to be exposed to possibly dirty sheets or beds in hotels.

There are two ways you can use this combining principle to come up with ideas for new products or services. One is to combine two elements that are already related in some way. This will lead to ideas that may not be radical or hugely innovative but can still be useful.

For instance, we could combine two styles of books, such as gardening and cookbooks that come in a binder with removable pages. The result might be a set of laminated cards that you can take outside with you and refer to when planting or pruning certain kinds of plants.

Or we might combine a T-shirt with shorts and come up with a one-piece boiler suit with short sleeves and cut-off legs (no, I wouldn’t look good in one, either).

The other option is to combine two elements that are very different. For example, we could combine gardening with aeroplanes, and come up with hanging planters in the shape of aeroplanes or a Zeppelin.

Or we could combine a T-shirt with a traffic light, and create a T-shirt that you can wear to clubs and control so it lights up green when you see someone you want to speak to, or red if there is someone approaching you whom you’d rather not speak to.

Try it both ways. Take a product or service you’d like to make more interesting or appealing and make two lists. One is for things that are in the same general realm as what you’re starting with; the other is a list of things that have no apparent relationship to it.

Then spend at least 15 minutes brainstorming with each list and see which one gives you better ideas.