Look for unique and hidden elements, then combine them with something else. Twitter is an example of deconstruction. Blogging started in 1994. Over time blogs contained longer posts, pictures, and videos. In 2006, Jack dorsey launched Twitter, which let people express themselves in microblogs. Today, the company is worth more than $13 billion.

Deconstruct

Combine opposites in an unlikely way. Coco Chanel was the first fashion designer to design the androgynous look in 1906. She combined straight dresses and pants previously reserved for men. In 1920, Chanel No.5, put her name everywhere. Chanel desired perfumer Ernest Beaux to make an artificial fragrance as "a woman should smell like a woman and not like a flower.” She also desired the perfume to blur the line between a respectable girl and a seductress.

Find harmony in contradictions

A cross-pollination between fields and industries leads to innovation in design. The innovative wearable-technology field is the result of cross-fertilization. Wearable tech advanced when Polar launched the first wire-free heart monitor in 1982. It combined medical equipment, science, industrial design, and technology that became the go-to brand for sports and exercise.Since then, Fitbit launched its wrist-worn tracker in 2013, and Apple released the Apple Watch in 2014.

Mix intellectual capital

Aggregate is the opposite of deconstructing. It is the practice of combining different elements into a whole. For example, the smartphone is so successful because it aggregates many things. It’s a phone, camera, text messenger, email provider, internet browser, music player, video screen, and source of entertainment.

Aggregate

Creativity is not luck and talent but a blend of skills and habits you must build over time. This is very relevant as we navigate the Great Resignation. Many people are quitting their jobs because creativity was hampered, leading to a boom in new-business creation.
The most innovative products often come from those who are consistently challenged to discover what others miss. By considering their habits, skills, and tools, we can be inspired by their creative process and how to copy it.

Designers and creativity

Look to the past for inspiration. Being creative means improving the old in novel and exciting ways. For example, the first camera was made in 1816 by Nicéphore Niépce. Chinese graduate student Frank Wang designed and built a flying device that carried a light camera that could take pictures from high. His company released a fully integrated camera drone in 2014.

Find the new in the old

In a new book, Maria Brito looks at how designers and innovators throughout history have unlocked their creativity and changed the world.
