Blog Post 9 - Unit 7 Discussion Board 2 - CS875: Futuring and Innovation - Colorado Technical University (CTU)

 Unlikely, Odd, and Repurposed Innovations

               Innovations happen in many ways. Some are intentional. Others are less intentional, like: serendipitous (unlikely) innovations, innovations resulting from errors (odd), and innovation through exaptation (recycling/repurposing) of existing resources. Serendipitous innovation refers to creating or improving something that already exists by chance or luck, essentially (FutureLearn, 2022). Innovation through error is as good as it sounds; when you think failure is certain, you succeed (Livescault, n.d.). Exaptation innovation is creating or innovating existing products, services, and/or processes by finding new ways to use what is already available (typically, as part of the original product, service, or process being repurposed) (Emergent Futures Lab, n.d.).

Serendipitous (Unlikely) Innovation Example

               As mentioned above, serendipity in innovation is unexpected. For instance, someone may innovate by performing routine tasks. Possibly, someone plays a certain game regularly, and one day learns something new unexpectedly that greatly improves their performance. While it could just be a revelation (learning something new that already exists), it may also be a software bug that allows you to dominate over your competition. The exploit/trick could then be disseminated, paid or not, and lead to innovation within that gaming environment. Later the developers may patch the bug, and build better and/or more resilient coding to mitigate the issue (i.e. anti-cheat software). One unexpected gaming innovation led to a large-scale commercial innovation/evolution.

               One famously serendipitous innovation was penicillin (FutureLearn, 2022). In 1928, Alexander Fleming, the discoverer, investigated a petri dish that was left on the windowsill in sunlight for some time. Penicillin is an anti-biotic that is used to treat bacterial infections (i.e. pneumonia, anthrax, cellulitis, strep throat, etc.) (Saleh, MD, MS, 2023). It can be naturally- or synthetically-sourced, and has contributed to the Medicine field greatly. There are also various penicillin strains. However, this unlikely innovation of serendipity has had improved the lives of many people around the world, and would not have been discovered without some curiosity.

Error (Odd) Example

               Creating something by mistake has to be one of the best rewards, especially when the effort/investments are low-to-none. Some innovations through error may be part of another attempt to innovate something else. Other errors that lead to innovation may be almost serendipitous, as outlined above, as they are unlikely/luck-based. Encountering and working through errors is part of the development process. It is normal, and should be adopted, to live with failure as a developer, to some extent. At least, the trial-and-error nature of innovation is one of the simplest ways to innovate. While errors may not directly lead to an innovation, they do provide great context about what does not work. In some cases, those errors may be lucrative/useful.

               One significant invention that came from an error was safety glass (Hurrish, 2021). A French chemist, Edouard Benedictus, discovered safety glass when he dropped a beaker in the lab, but it did not shatter into pieces. It did, however, shatter, but it was contained. As it turned out, he learned that cellulose nitrate was in the beaker before, and is what has been used to develop similar solutions for shatterproof glass. The biggest use of the shatterproof glass has to be in vehicle windshields.

Exaptation (Repurposed) Innovation Example

               At first, innovative exaptation seems to be the creation through using/repurposing existing elements. However, there is a distinct difference between exaptation and adaptation (Emergent Futures Lab, n.d.). Adaptation is evolving existing elements into more innovative versions of themselves, whereas exaptation is creating something completely new from existing components. For example, making a home or structure from wood, cement from the pre-cursors, chewing gum from sapodilla plant resin, alcohol from pre-cursors, rubber from rubber tree sap, etc. The Internet/digital environment we know must also be an exaptation of electricity and its components?

               The concept of exaptation came was introduced by Gould and Verba in 1982, and replaced/offered another explanation about the pre-adaptation phase Charles Darwin (famous evolutionary scientist) proposed as a similar process (Emergent Futures Lab, n.d.). Exaptation is dived into new and current usefulness, and then further classified by: unintentional features, no-purpose/function features, invisible introductions, and unintended results that are produced by intentional features. Furthermore, these taxonomies and classifications have been fused with radical niche construction, the concept of affordances, and is more focused on material properties over processes.

Summary

               Looking at serendipity, errors, and exaptation as innovation sources, we can see that they have yielded some great creations. While some people do not believe in luck, it is important to reflect and carefully consider your environment and research projects to understand if or when there could be a hidden gem. I often learn new ways to do things by completing routine tasks, which can streamline/improve my tasks. Exaptation seems to be a bit flexible on its interpreted outcomes, errors should be reviewed to determine innovative uses, and if you are lucky enough to innovate and make a lot of profit serendipitously, then I would accept, adopt, and integrate those into your overall portfolio.

References

Bessant, J. R., & Tidd, J. (2024). Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change (8th ed.). Wiley Global Education US. Retrieved from https://coloradotech.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781394252053/epubcfi/6/32[%3Bvnd.vst.idref%3DAc07]!/4

Emergent Futures Lab. (n.d.). Definition of exaptation | Emergent Futures Lab. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from emergentfutureslab.com: https://emergentfutureslab.com/innovation-glossary/exaptation

FutureLearn. (2022, October 25). Updates, insights, and news from FutureLearn | Online learning for you. Retrieved from futurelearn.com: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/innovation-enterprise/0/steps/120754

Hurrish, C. (2021, December 27). 12 Inventions created by mistake | Diversified Spaces. Retrieved from diversifiedspaces.com: https://www.diversifiedspaces.com/2021/12/27/12-inventions-created-by-mistake/

Livescault, J. (n.d.). 35 Famous Innovation Failures - And What You Can Learn From Them. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from braineet.com: https://www.braineet.com/blog/innovation-failures

Saleh, MD, MS, N. (2023, November 20). What is penicillin used for? Retrieved from verywellhealth.com: https://www.verywellhealth.com/whats-pencillin-1124178#toc-what-is-penicillin

Blog Post 8 - Unit 7 Discussion Board 1 - CS875: Futuring and Innovation - Colorado Technical University (CTU)

 Daydreaming About the Future

               This assignment focuses on dreaming about things I would like to do in the future that are centered around education. The main subjects to consider are: Education, Job or Research, Philosophy or Religion, Travel, and home-based educational goals. Not only should I be considering the dreams of the future, but I also am allowed to imagine them without resource constraints. While I somewhat try not to get too focused on future goals that are not very realistic, especially in the short term, it is imagination creativity, and dreaming that propel society. If nobody ever challenged or desired more than the status-quo, human and societal evolution would never have taken place.

               Goals, dreams, and creations may never become reality, but they can often guide people towards other life improvements. I try not to get my hopes up, but I remain a pessimistic/skeptical optimist. Some people have told me I am a realist. Sometimes I can seem like an opponent/want to debate, but it does not always mean I completely disagree with anyone one thing or idea. I like to think of it as playing the Devil’s advocate, somewhat, and consider it to potentially be a way for people to prepare for debate with those who are much less forgiving. I like to ask questions. Table one below outlines ten goals for each of the categories listed above.

 

Table 1

These are Some Things I Daydream About Doing with Unlimited Resources

Education	Job or Research	Philosophy or Religion	Travel	Home
Finish my last degree level (doctorate)	Be successful, stable, and wealthy	Help to create a more cooperative global environment to facilitate synergy and accelerate growth	I hope to own and pilot a flying domestic car/vehicle	I want to learn how to do electrical wiring to code specifications
Learn more programming	Be able to hire people long-term/delegate more work, and have some time off.	Continue searching for proof of God, religious references, and raise awareness of similarities among all	I want to travel to every country, and learn/experience direct culture	Learning how to build/do construction of a home/building to code
Create digital training programs	Find better cybersecurity solutions on a global/higher-security scale	Do more religious study	Traveling to space sounds great, but then I worry about not coming back/death	Figure out how to measure, cut, and lay carpet
Community outreach/evangelism for education	Be successful locally, nationally, and then globally in my business	Find a way to connect realism with religion so that youth/others are not disillusioned	Be invited to the White House as a result of some significant educational achievement/contribution	Build a new home security system
Attend alumni events	Be able to start a foundation for youth education, supports/scholarships/grants, and possibly some sports/extracurricular activities. Something like a Boys and Girls Club, or partnership of sorts with community agencies	Define a new regulatory philosophy in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) space	Warp Speed Travel 5+	Learn more about home, property, and income-generation from land regulations
Have dissertation published/accepted	Develop the ability to code programs for jet propulsion/binary transmission use (VSAT, as one). May require access to the Deep Space Network at some point	Monitor Anacyclosis/political philosophy cyclical evolution	Be able to use teleportation, which would be nice to help develop	Learn how to do plumbing to code
Contribute to Education by publishing, evangelizing, and participating in educational discourse	Solve more cybersecurity crimes and issues, which would add to cybersecurity solutions. Help to protect innocent, bring costs down, and deter	Present outside and alternative philosophies to those who may have issues imagining a new perspective	Learn more about challenges or potential of time travel	Understand how to manage and maximize natural minerals on property
Revolutionize the learning environment while making it accessible to all students	Create a new disruptive technology	Consider what philosophies Earth/human inhabitants of another planet may employ	Be guided through some of the most secret places on Earth to learn about rare things/understand the world better	Create a highly-advanced smart home, including custom programming
Teach part-time/adjunct	Become respected and distinguished worldwide	Contribute to education and academic philosophies that may be more effective	Travel to the center of the Earth to understand the core	Promote home management philosophies
Work for a university in some capacity (probably not teaching)	Teach people more practical/rewarding skills to supplement traditional academics	Understand how delegating many advanced industry tasks to AI may influence the need for a new workforce philosophy	Possibly travel in a simulated environment through integrated biology/Augmented Reality (AR), as if in The Matrix, to learn and train without having to really travel	Learn how to weld

 Note: Objectives listed are based in February 2025.

               Some of the goals are simple, and others are a far stretch. However, the overarching theme is that education is important. Learning, even when not in a formal program, never really stops. To achieve lofty goals, serious action has to be taken. To sit idle, while every waking moment should be appreciated as a new opportunity, can limit the progress a person/society makes. The more that is learned, the less that needs to be learned/outsourced to someone that already knows, and whom will charge a nominal fee.

               While delegation and focusing on core operations is a great way to work on the strongest abilities, innovation, growth, and profitability comes through research, development, and owned production. There are, of course, cost/benefit formulas to incorporate into the decision-making process, but it is empowering to be a creator. It puts the individual in control of the output. Sometimes, it is intimidating to start the process when the gaps are so large, but setting milestones, goals, and objectives to get to the end-goal is a much more manageable way to get there. Learning can be deep, complex, and difficult, or it can be very simple, like learning how to log into a website! Overall, I love to learn new things, triangulate current/outside knowledge, have open conversations for confirmation/debate, and so that I can rely on myself as much as possible.