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Derek Gable has been a successful inventor and product developer, who has spoken to our Club once before.  He has a variety of patents, including one for real estate lock boxes.  He was born in England and came to the US in 1968 to work for Mattel.  He formed his own company in 1984 to create new concepts and take them to production or sell them.

Among the roadblocks to solving problems are (1) Not wanting to!  (2) Stubbornness; (3) Focusing on the wrong problem; (4) Going in circles; (5) Playing a “Yes but.. ” game; (6) Wanting to be right at all costs.

How to be a more creative problem solver: (1) Identify the actual problem; (2) Open your mind to all possibilities; (3) Look for common ground among the group facing the problem; (4) Stop, look, and think; (5) Look for unique approaches; (6) Look beyond the obvious.

He gave the example of his experience many years ago while discussing a problem solution with colleagues in his home.  Taking time out to make lunch, he used a salad spinner with a hand crank to dry some lettuce, and realized a possibility for a children’s toy.  It became a plastic container with a similar crank for spinning it, and 3 shaped holes on top for a child to put 3 different shapes of blocks matching these holes into the container.  The only way to get the blocks out again was to spin this device until the 3 blocks popped out by centrifugal force, allowing the process to be repeated.  He sold this idea to Mattel for a large sum of money!

He has provided classes to share his experiences with people who “have this great idea but don’t know what to do with it”.  He has spoken to service clubs, social and business groups and on several cruise ships on how to develop more innovative and creative thinking.  He encourages us to practice “thinking outside of the box”!