Even though the majority of useful inventions never see the light of day, forever languishing in some basement or workshop, inventing remains a wonderful if not miraculous activity.
Who would have known that a bicycle would evolve from this medieval and very ugly contraption here:-
into this useful gadget carried by this man here:
Take a look at these portraits for example:
Who would have guessed that from such lowly creations, others would improve the device to create machines such as these. Barely two hundred years later? Devices which it must be said have very few similarities with the original two-wheeled instruments, but are nevertheless an evolution thereof?
Therefore, if you have it within your soul to do so, invent.
Take a long critical look at the world around you, and ask yourself why certain things are the way they are.
Why does this thing have to be so heavy? … so costly, so big, so difficult to use, so useless? Why doesn’t it do the job its meant to do properly? Why does it have to break down every now and again? And cause me unnecessary headaches. Why does it have to wear out every month? Why can’t its useful life be 5 or 6 months longer? Why does it have all these senseless limitations? Why the bulk, why the inefficiency, why the annoyance…why the inflexibility? Why is it so daft?
And to these questions, think up a solution.Yes, come up with something to improve and rectify the problems which you have identified.
And try to implement those changes, again and again, and again, until you succeed. Or until you come up with a better and different solution ( in case the first solution doesn’t work ) that works as well as you think it should.
Whether the problem is with an item in your household, in your garage, at your workplace, or something within your community.
And it doesn’t have to be something complicated, or an entirely new concept. Even modifications can result in wonderful creations. that’s what innovation is all about !
It could be something as simple as a baby bib such as this:
It could be something such as Anti-Malaria soap. Your innovation could be an improvement of something such as a windmill to generate electricity for your village.
It could be an efficient stove, that uses less firewood, therefore helps reduce deforestation and the risk of flooding.
Or it could be a stove that uses composite waste materials without the need for firewood.
Or your innovation could have something to do with an improved hydrogenerator that produces electricity using the flow of your local river?
Your ideas could be in a system of collecting, filtering and storing rainwater for use in watering your garden in the dry summer months. Which could come in handy when the water board cuts the water supply:
A UV water purifier tank such as this:-
It could be an improvement of farm implements or methods of crop cultivation. It could be a computer Application to fulfill a certain need in your country, or a communication system that lowers the cost of communication in your village…
Whatever it is, if you have the force of character that drives people to find solutions to problems within you. If you sometimes feel like you want to change things. And are prepared to invest time, money and effort to do so. Then go for it. Do it.
You never know what your invention may develop into, a 100 or 200 years down the line.
By the way, bicycles today provide transportation to millions of people all over world.
Malawi Ace 