Problem Solving: Creative Ideas Don’t Have to Cost a Fortune

How much do you think it would cost to take pictures at the edge of space? You might guess tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. But you’d be wrong.

With some basic problem solving skills and a little dash of creativity, your price tag would come out to $148. At least it would if you were a couple of MIT students. They were able to come up with a creative solution to launch a camera attached to a cell phone into the top edge of the stratosphere.

“But what about the cold?” you might ask. Just solve the problem with a Styrofoam cooler and a hand warmer. (Read more about their experiment here.)

The point? Problem solving, when combined with a bit of creative effort, can provide dramatic results with very little expense.

So, the next time you are facing a problem in a kaizen, and you want to go to your boss to get an expense approved, think about that $148 price tag to get pictures from the edge of space. Then consider if you are getting the same creative bang for your problem solving buck.