A feature of an object is an effect of an interaction. New features then come from new interactions.

This definition, inspired by the philosopher Nietzsche, has broad implications for creativity.

1. New features come from new interactions. Superconductivity in ceramics resulted from a new interaction: a particular ceramic material interacting with electricity and a near-absolute-zero temperature. Interacting microwaves with candy in Percy Spencer's pocket led to the discovery of a new feature of microwaves--that they could cook food. In contrast, well-known features come from well-known interactions. Water conducts electricity. Water turns into ice at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. These common features of water result from common interactions.

2. Find new, obscure features of your object of interest by interacting it with things and conditions it has never interacted with before.  For example, interacting a fluctuating electromagnetic field with a metal cooking pot heats up the pot, which cooks the food in the pot (i.e., induction cooking). Or, interact the concept of earbuds with the concept of a zipper and you get tangle-free earbuds--a new feature of both earbuds and zippers.

3. The number of features of an object most likely grows on a daily basis.  Each day, patent offices around the world grant patents to new objects and materials. Interact any common object or material (e.g., rice) with the new objects and materials granted patents and you are sure to discover new features of the common object/material. For example, use can use rice to dry out your wet cell phone. Thus, you have a new feature of rice: the ability to salvage wet cell phones.

4. No feature of an object has a static value, but dynamically changes as circumstances change. The mass of an object, once thought to be an unchanging feature, increases as the object approaches the speed of light. Mass is the result of an interaction between the object and its speed. Recently, the mass of an object has been shown to result from interactions between the sub-atomic particles of the object and Higgs bosons. Similarly, all features we thought were static are really the result of interactions. Features do not "belong" to the object but "belong" to the interaction.

"You have to think outside the box." This common statement doesn't help us be creative. We need to know more. How far outside the box? And how do you get there?

You have to think just outside the box--one or two steps. Here is an example and a method for getting to that sweet spot just beyond the common features to the obscure ones.

Inside the box above are a few of the common features of a candle. Being motionless is a commonly overlooked (i.e., obscure) feature and thus ideal for grounding new candle designs. But how do you get just outside the box to the obscure features? One way is to examine the 50 types of features that all objects could possess. In this way, both the common and obscure features will become apparent. See the blog entry 50 Viewing Lenses to learn the specifics and see one of our candle-in-motion designs, the self-snuffing candle, produced by this method.

Any innovative solution is built upon at least one commonly overlooked (i.e., obscure) feature of the problem at hand. If a solution involved nothing obscure, we would not call it innovative.

Based on the OFH, my research program systematically engages in the following steps:

• Name the cognitive obstacles to noticing the obscure (e.g., functional fixedness, design fixation, assumption blindness)
• Create a counter technique for each cognitive obstacle.
• Test the techniques experimentally that they uncover more obscure features.
• Apply the techniques to real-world problems.
• Teach companies and individuals how to do the techniques.

My dissertation presented the first technique, the generic parts technique, to successfully counter the classic obstacle  functional fixedness. Many other obstacles and techniques will be presented in this blog.

The Harvard Business Review posted a blog on the OFH and overcoming functional fixedness.