Using Biology and Design to Spark Business Innovation

If you're a business owner or manager who's interested in using innovation for competitive advantage, you've got to listen the BBC World Service.

 

They have interesting and educational programming, with a variety of topics and interviews of diverse people across the planet, who are eager to share their knowledge with you, the listener.

 

One such programme that really had me thinking was the The Forum (whose tag line is "a World of Ideas from the BBC"), aired at 9.05 am Eastern on a Saturday.

 

The theme for last Saturday's (August 20) episode was "Design in art, fashion and nature. Is innovation or imitation the key to success?"

 

Host, Bridget Kendall, had three (3) guests:

 

1. Ron Arad - Designer and architect who makes luxury furniture from scrap/waste materials


2. Pamela Church Gibson -  a Fashion and Culture Historian


3. Janine Benyus - Biologist and Innovation Consultant in the emerging field of Biomimicry, who is also author of "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature" (cover photo above).

 

 I found their discussion on the following topics to be extraordinary:

 

1. Harnessing kinetic energy and mechanical energy so that they can be re-used


2. Up-cycling vs recycling


3. Using design for competitive advantage:

 

Let's discuss  each in turn:

 

1) Harnessing kinetic energy and mechanical energy so that they can be re-used.

 

[Kinetic energy is energy that's  produced from movement/motion, whilst mechanical energy is that produced from machines.

 

Well, technically speaking, mechanical energy = potential energy + kinetic energy. (Where a particle's potential energy is its stored  energy or energy derived from the particle's position, or condition, rather than motion)].

 

Examples of this harnessing would include:

 

1a) Converting sound energy to light and heat energy.

This could be done by converting the loud noises produced from planes into heat and light, to be used in airports.

 

So instead of wasting that energy, you convert it into its more usable form - light and heat.

 

1b) The placement  of piezoelectric crystals  underneath floors,  that collect and store energy as people move on that floor. This stored energy can then be reused in buildings (as heat and/or light).

 

When I heard this, I was like, wow!

 

2) The concept of up-cycling vs recycling:

 

Janine  gave the example of a fallen tree in the forest, that, contrary to popular belief, does not just  rot (disintegrate) over time; instead its contents are up-cycled:

 

So fungi feed on rotting parts of the tree, then mice eat the fungi and hawks eat the mice; so in fact what was thought to be dead material, is now resurrected into new material, used to feed and sustain the hawk.

 

3) Using design for competitive advantage:

 

In nature, many organisms that appear to be colorful, really aren't, but due to  their design, are able to reflect light in different intensities so as to appear colored.

 

E.g. Janine  Benyus referred to a peacock that actually appears blue, but is actually brown.  Its blue pigmentation is as a result of its different  layers of transparent feathers that reflect light in differing intensities, thus producing its multicolored pigmentation.

 

According to Janine, this concept can be transferred to the paint industry that previously used dyes/pigments to give colored paint.

 

But because dyes are very expensive and environmentally hazardous, the paint industry is now using the concept of "design in layers" to simulate (mimic) color.

 

So pigmentless paint is being used to simulate colored paint. The paint has different layers that refract and reflect light, giving the desired color of combination of colours.

 

Exciting isn't it? :)

 

So friends, if you want your business to be on the cutting edge of technology and innovation...you've just got to listen to the BBC World Service!

 

You may just be surprised at just how effective their programming is, at sparking new ideas for your business, that will give it  a sustained competitive advantage!

 

You can listen to the BBC World Service in any of three (3) ways:

1)  Live, online, via the BBC iPlayer, here

 

2) Via their vast programmes, online, here

 

3) Locally, anytime, anywhere...even in your car...with a Sirius radio that allows you to access global radio stations via satellite.

 

(Our non-US  friends can get the above deal, by clicking here).

 

Gillian

 

Sources Include

1) BBC Radio Programme The Forum on August 20,2011 via the BBC World Service.