An Interview with the Authors

Describe your two basic methods for approaching the task of problem solving.

Most “original” ideas arent completely original, but instead are the result of two basic methods for generating ideas: problems in search of solutions and solutions in search of problems. The first is straightforward; the latter starts with an already ingenious idea or solution and then attempts to apply it to a new context or problem.

What is Principled Problem Solving?

Principled Problem Solving is about thinking inside the box. By identifying constraints that any solution must obey and filtering out any unworkable ideas before they begin to take shape, this approach helps focus the search for a solution and prevents having to start from scratch every time a roadblock is encountered.

What tips can you offer someone trying to persuad others to buy into and idea—even when they aren’t in the market for new ideas?

Start with the art of the pitch — often referred to as the “elevator pitch.” What can you say during the brief ride you get to share with the right batter when luck puts you two together? For example, to describe pay-per-mile auto insurance try: you drive, you pay; you dont drive, you dont pay. Also, work to make your new idea seem familiar rather than new (KISS - Keep it Similar, Stupid). It’s hard enough for listeners to absorb a radically new idea. Don’t make them also have to absorb a new context. Pay close attention to who would really benefit or be interested in your idea: that’s your real target.

Describe some of your own WHY NOT? ideas.

Barry Nalebuff cofounded Honest Tea, a company that makes barely sweetened bottled iced teas. In 2003, the company turned five, which is a respectable age measured in beverage industry dog-eat-dog years. With sales of $5 million, its one of Inc. magazine’s fastest growing companies. We have also worked to make home-equity protection, three-year business schools, and automatically refinancing fixed-rate mortgages a reality. If you live in Syracuse, NY, you can buy insurance against a loss in the value of your home (www.equityhq.org).

Describe your WHY NOT? web site and explain the motivation behind its creation. How can visitors use this site to refine their own innovations?

The WHY NOT? web site, www.whynot.net, is an idea free-for-all where contributors can help improve each other’s ideas. A good discussion forum can be of immense help in refining one’s brainstorm. If you think putting caffeine in OJ is a good idea, you might be on to something. Then again, you might also want to know that it’s been tried several times and flopped. The product even won the worse product introduction of the year award.

We want to start a dialogue to help identify really good ideas and help make them happen. We plan to write about the best submissions in our Forbes column and talk about them on Marketplace. We’ll periodically announce editors choice award to publicize and recognize these innovations.

What are some of the most exciting and promising ideas you’ve heard lately?

We are especially keen on the idea of changing the tax deduction date for charitable contributions to April 15^th, in line with the deadline for contributions to your IRA. In the UK, they have a checking account that pays your mortgage interest rate! Replacing the traditional boycott of companies that do things wrong with a buycott of those that do things right would provide great incentives to change behavior. Having a voicemail service to prevent wrong numbers from waking you up at night is one of Barrys favorites. Ian is partial to the idea of buying a DVD with the tamer airplane/tv version of an R-rated movie.

Explain what you mean by the “open-source movement.” Why should innovators just give their ideas away?

Thousands today are part of the “open-source movement”, an unorganized group of individuals solving problems in their spare time and giving away their ideas. This “just share it” mindset is legendary among computer programmers and prevalent in the online community where people have contributed literally millions of product reviews and cultural guides. Sometimes idea sharing is the best way to move an idea along.

There’s a big difference between a good idea and a good business. The fact that someone can make money from an idea does not mean that you should start a business to bring this innovation to market. For example, we’d like to have a mortgage that automatically refinances when rates fall. But even if we succeeded in creating this product, we’d just be doing market research for one of the banks who’d copy the product and use their superior brand and distribution to put us under.

Everyone has more ideas than they can ever act on. We didn’t say put all your ideas out in the public. You can’t do everything. Share the ideas that are just gathering dust in your brain. By getting your ideas out there, you can grow a reputation for being the ideas person, a person people want to have on their team.

In WHY NOT?, you offer to teach anyone how to generate ideas using simple methods. Aren’t technological experts best suited to coming up with today’s innovations?

Not necessarily. Innovation is a skill that can be taught. And what’s more, the potential for innovation is all around us. The problem is that the sense of innovation as everyday ingenuity often gets lost in our high-tech world. Non-experts often have the advantage of not being constrained by accepted wisdom.

What experience do you bring to the challenge of mastering everyday ingenuity?

Our combination of law and business backgrounds gives us valuable tools for both generating and testing ideas. We employ insights from economics, game theory, contracts, and an appreciation for the law of unintended consequences. Plus we share a passion for clever ideas and spend much of our professional lives giving advice. (The truth is, even without being asked, we still find ourselves dreaming up better ways to do things.) In WHY NOT? we share what weve learned.

Is this the right time for Why Not?

The spirit of America is that anything is possible. Conquering polio, the Wright brothers to Apollo, the Internet revolution are all examples of innovations that stimulated our imaginations and our economy. Alas that optimism was lost with the dot com crash and 9/11. We’ve been there before, after the sinking of the Titanic, through the Depression and World Wars.

We aim to help recover the spirit of American ingenuity. RFK challenged us to dream of things that never were and say “Why Not.” By talking about new ideas and allowing ourselves to dream we lift our spirits and our economy. Innovators are by nature optimists. It is our hope that Why Not? and whynot.net will make it easier for good ideas to be heard, for people to challenge the status quo and say: Here’s how to do it better. As Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.’