Invent Like a Marine

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

As I’m writing this during the holidays, I am 3-fold reminded of what I found written on a fire department t-shirt a few weeks ago. I was later reminded that the quote “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome” is actually an unofficial mantra of the Marine Corps, based on the fact that the Corps was used to receiving Army hand-me-downs and traditionally the troops were poorly equipped. In spite of this perceived disadvantage, the Marine Corps has been successful mostly because of the creativity of it’s people and their success-based attitude. I believe this amazing capacity for creative thinking stems from a Marine’s utter drive and dedication towards accomplishing the mission, even when faced with what appear to be impossible odds.

I mentioned that this reminder was 3-fold. After seeing this on the t-shirt, I remembered that the motto was made famous by Clint Eastwood in the movie “Heartbreak Ridge” (though it’s been around since well before the movie). Now that it’s the holidays, the thoughts of many of us are directed toward those serving our country in the all the branches of the armed forces around the globe, some in remote and hostile areas far away from their families. This convergence of reminders has got me to thinking about how we as inventors can take a cue from these military innovators, those that have a lot more on the line as they are thinking literally on their feet.

Like the marines, inventors and entrepreneurs have a mission, a battle plan that hits the ground on an ever-changing landscape. For instance, this year we have watched a major change in the economic landscape. And as I have said before in other blogs and in meetings over the last year, this is not the time to go hide and stick our heads in the sand. Many have been forced to do more with less, while some of us have had limited resources to work with from the get-go. Marines, likewise, have historically had to do without. They are the smallest branch of the service and get an even smaller share of the DOD budget. But this has forced them to actually achieve more with less. It is so strongly infused into their being that they just expect to get short changed and still come out on top. They just develop an attitude of never letting a little adversity get in their way.

Perhaps one or more fronts of your invention landscape has changed. Perhaps it’s your market: the people who would buy your invention now would not or wouldn’t buy for the same reasons they would last year. Perhaps it’s your resources and you have to find another way to get your prototype developed. Or perhaps you now have to find a new and different way to protect your IP (Intellectual Property). This is the part where you need to improvise. It may not be as pretty a route as you originally imagined, but sometimes it doesn’t matter how you got there, just that you did.

When things look impossible, the marines get more creative. This is also a mantra we hear a lot here at the CKIC. Inventors are the innovators, and we are the people everyone looks to for creativity. While we nearly have this creativity in our blood, we sometimes get so focused on being creative on the front inventing end, we fail to realize that we can “adapt” this creativity to other areas of the inventing process. When faced with a shortage of materials, information or even time, what do you do? Do you give up? Just sit there and let everything come to a standstill? Or do you try to get more information and attempt to come up with a viable solution?

Maybe the most important part of this mantra is to Overcome. This is part that describes our actions when we surmount an unexpected obstacle. The marines call this “accomplishing the mission”. This is that tenacity I see in inventors, many who have diminished resources, who become successful; and this is what I see missing in the inventors who have more resources that end up being unsuccessful. If there was one secret ingredient to successful inventing, this may be it.

So when faced with a changing situation or one that seems nearly too big to tackle, just remember that you have a weapon at your disposal that many do not: your creativity.

Here’s hoping you have a Merry Christmas and an innovative, prosperous 2010!