Scalable Innovation

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7

Seeing the Outlines

of the Box

Discovering the

Boundaries of a System

In Section I we made the rst step in the process of thinking outside the box

when we started considering certain familiar devices as functional elements

of a larger system. This simple step allowed us to broaden our vision of the

situation and engage in divergent thinking.

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For example, by looking beyond

Edison’s light bulb, we discovered his other important inventions that were

critical to the success of the device itself and the electricity distribution sys-

tem as a whole. More formally, whether working alone or in a group, we

would like to answer the following question ...