TED has created a playlist of talks on the nature of being creative.
Visit TED’s Blog in the link for their selection of talks that touched on the aspects and nature of creativity, such as:
– lessons that creative people should embrace
– the genius we have within us all
– how the technical-minded can build up their creative muscle Continue reading
When we think of a car’s internal airbag, the first assumption is it protects the driver and front passenger.
This has been the safety feature in cars for decades, and will continue being so.
But here’s a “What if…” question:
“What if airbags can protect pedestrians?”
By pedestrians here, I mean exactly that: the people who throng the sidewalks, pavements and occasionally cross the roads. I can already sense the answer among the more enlightened beings to the question above: “Sure, why not?”
That’s exactly what Volvo has done. In a brilliant step in its relentless drive for auto-safety, Volvo has turned the table and done some reversal thinking in airbag technology: it has just announced what it says is a first – an external airbag on the front of the car designed to help protect pedestrians in the event of a collision.
As they stated in their website:
“Sensors in the front bumper register the physical contact between the car and the pedestrian. The rear end of the bonnet is released and at the same time elevated by the deploying airbag. The inflated airbag covers the area under the raised bonnet plus approximately one third of the windscreen area and the lower part of the A-pillar.”
The driving force behind this safety feature for their 2013 V40 model is captured by Thomas Broberg, the company’s senior safety advisor, “Volvo aims to ensure that nobody should die or suffer serious injuries in a new Volvo car by the year 2020.”
Visit Volvo’s website to check the external airbag in action.
I think this is simply an awesome idea in protecting pedestrians from further or serious injury upon a collision with a car.
Now why didn’t any other auto-maker think of that? Will they now follow suit?
(For another idea using Reversal Thinking, click here)
================================================================
Routine. A quick check in an online dictionary describes it as “a prescribed, detailed course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com).
We may be in this state without even knowing it. Getting up the same time each day, fixing the same breakfast, going to work the same way, getting caught up in the daily grind, doing our best to meet deadlines with no room to do anything different.
If not checked, routine breeds monotony. It is like falling into a rut and finding no motivation to get out of it. Stay too long in it, and you will lose the impulse, knack or desire to go that one extra step that moves you ahead of the game. The reason is because routine gives you a sense of comfort and predictability.
And when trying to think up new ideas or do something new, staying in routine is like a self-imposed mental and emotional prison that stops you from even taking the first step.
But you’re holding yourself back if you get too caught up in routine. Not breaking free and embracing some change can sometimes leave you far behind.
I’ve just updated my page on “Awesome Reads” with more titles on the subject of creativity and innovation.
Have a look at them by clicking here: Awesome Reads.
Creativity Workshop 