40 inventive principles / #13
#13 The other way round
What it says
- Do the opposite of the usual action.
- Make the moving part fixed and the fixed part moving.
- Turn the object or process upside down.
Examples
- Software
- Push notifications instead of polling.
- Business
- Customers come to you instead of field sales visiting them.
- Engineering
- A treadmill: the floor moves, the runner stays.
- Everyday life
- Bring the laundry basket to the wardrobe, not the clothes to the basket.
Where the matrix suggests it
The classic contradiction matrix suggests The other way round in 141 of its 1,248 filled cells. Most often for these conflicts:
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Stress or pressure
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Shape
- Improving Length of moving object worsens Speed
- Improving Length of stationary object worsens Shape
- Improving Area of moving object worsens Ease of manufacture
- Improving Speed worsens Length of moving object
- Improving Speed worsens Force
- Improving Speed worsens Loss of information