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from Inside the Box by Drew Boyd & Jacob Goldenberg
If you want to create an innovative product, you do not need to think “outside‐the‐box” and dream up an entirely new product. Instead,
divide, subtract, and multiply products in your environment to think of an innovative new product.
Divide and Rearrange
Dividing and rearranging is like taking apart a Lego building and reassembling the Lego
pieces (the physical components of a product) to see if you can create something
better.
The physical components of your refrigerator include the door, the main refrigerator
compartment, the drawer where you store your vegetables, the light, and the
compressor at the back of the refrigerator. Start innovating your refrigerator by
writing down each component on a post‐it note, posting them on your wall, and then
thinking: “How might I rearrange these components in my environment?”
You might imagine moving the compressor outside of the refrigerator, storing it at the back of your house, and then feeding compressor
lines back to the refrigerator to cool it. Now ask: “Is there any benefit in doing this?”
Separating the compressor from the refrigerator would allow for more food storage space, create a quieter kitchen, and allow other
compartments in the kitchen to be cooled by the standalone compressor. In fact, the thought of having a standalone compressor could be
the basis of a new custom kitchen renovation business in which you make small built‐in refrigeration drawers throughout the kitchen that
you cool with an external compressor. You could have a cooling drawer for drinks, another for vegetables, and another for eggs and
meats.
If dividing and rearranging physical components does not lead to innovative solutions, try dividing and rearranging the experience points
of a product.
A sports drink company in the book divided and rearranged the sports drink experience. Most sports drinks mix the vitamins and
electrolytes before customers purchase a drink. Viz Enterprises created the VIZ Cap to allow customers to mix vitamins and electrolytes
after their purchase. When customers twist the VIZ Cap, vitamins and electrolytes stored in the cap are released into the water to produce
a fresh tasting sports drink.
Subtract and Replace
You can think of subtracting and replacing like taking a star player out of a basketball
game and replacing him with a rookie on the bench who turns out to be much better
than you expected and improves the team.
Apple has performed subtraction and replacement to produce some of the most iconic
products in the world. Apple subtracted essential buttons from MP3 players and replaced
them with a single button and a wheel to create the first iPod.
Sometimes you don't need to replace a component to produce a new and innovative product. The iPod shuffle subtracted the display from
the iPod and only allowed listeners to listen to songs in random order. Removing the display meant the device could be much smaller and
more valuable to runners.
Multiply and Revise
Multiply and revise your way to an innovative product by selecting an essential
component of a product and then copying and modifying that component in some way.
In 1971, Gillette introduced the TRAC II Twin Blade Shaving System, the first mass‐
produced two‐blade razor in the United States. Gillette did not simply double the number
of blades on the razor. Instead, they took the standard razor blade, copied it, and then
adjusted the angle of the blade so that the first blade pulled hair up from the skin and the second blade made the cut, resulting in a closer
shave. If Gillette had simply copied the first blade to create two identical blades, the two‐blade razor would not have been a significant
improvement over the single‐blade razor.
When you multiply an essential component of a product, revise the component you multiply by adjusting the angle, modifying the design,
or reducing the size of the copied components. New cancer treatment facilities have multiplied and shrunk radiation doses so that the
radiation is less lethal and can be applied to a tumor at different angles.
“Common knowledge is to start with a problem and then brainstorm ideas without restraint until you find a
solution. We believe just the opposite. Better and quicker innovation happens when you work inside your
familiar world (yes, inside the box) and use templates (like the three listed above).” – Drew Boyd & Jacob
Goldenberg
www.ProductivityGame.com