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I spotted this design for a combination door handle and lock from a Yanko design feed. What I really like about it is that it does two things really well.

Firstly, I solves a problem that I didn’t know existed. And, secondly it does more with less.

Let me explain.

1. Solves a problem the doesn’t really exist: With so much turmoil in the world with financial meltdowns, energy and climate crisises, and war and famine; does re-designing an door hand and a lock really make a difference? I mean is it really a problem that we have a handle and a lock, and have to manually reshuffle the combination. I don’t have an answer other than I don’t think it matters anyway. The fact that designers can see ways to improve everyday things is good enough for me.
2. Do more with less: Combining objects and functions into a new design is a great pathway to innovation. This design does it well. There is physically less hardware (less cost?), setting the combination can be done while your hand is on the handle (less effort), and you don’t even have to reshuffle the combination when finished (less thinking!).

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Online and off line media is full of articles describing the demise of innovation as businesses of all sizes cut back. We’re hearing that there is no money for R&D, processes tightened, and projects prioritized.

But will innovation really stop? I don’t think so. In fact I think that the current state is simply a catalyst for us to innovate in different ways.

If we think about the conditions the current crisis is creating, then we see:

• Constraints in money, time, and other resources.
• Organisations focusing on core business.
• And an urgent need to find new or better ways to do things.

How are these conditions forcing us to behave differently? First of all we need to:

• Do only what is necessary.
• Find ways to do more with less.

So what do we need to do differently to make the best of the new environment?

• Work with people and organisations that we may not have worked with before.
• Seeking out opportunities to share the effort and/or cost.
• Innovate in less formal, or ad-hoc, or even accidental ways.

At a personal level what actions can we take?

• Be open! There’s often many ways to do and think about things. Challenge you own thinking.
• Observe! What’s happening around you, what are other people and businesses doing? But don’t just do things that others are doing. It’s often the contratian approach that wins out.
• Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know at an event, on your commute, in a store. Great connections can be made in the most unlikely places.
• Read a magazine or book on a subject you normally wouldn’t. You never know what you might learn, and what you can apply yourself.
• Collect and review ideas. See this earlier post on why this is such an effective tactic.
• Read some biographies from people who prospered in the 1930′s. What made the difference for them? What principles can you utilize.

Hopefully you can see that there are opportunities out there.

“There are always opportunities through which businessmen can profit handsomely if they will only recognize and seize them.” John Paul Getty

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There are two words that can help us achieve more creative and innovative thinking. Those two words are “What if”.

“What if” takes us from our current state directly to an imagined future state. It is an instant leap across a creative chasm. The chasm could be narrow and shallow, wide and deep, or any combination in between.

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• What  if … was bigger / smaller?
• What if … went this way instead of that way?
• What if … we do it / don’t do it on a Saturday?
• What if we added / left out …?
• What if…
• What if…

The hard part of course is getting from the here and now to the imagined “What if”. It does need receptive and open minds ready to consider the imagined state.

Every “What if” won’t be a winner, infact very few will have any “legs” at all. But, to get to that gem of an idea, that break-through thought, that innovative seed - start with “What if”.




I’d love your feedback. Please leave a comment or contact me directly through the “Contact Me” button under my photo.

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