Warren Wilson is an inventor, author. public speaker, and former inventRight student, and more. He had an idea and turned it into Better Blocks, which became the first building block system to successful compete with Lego, the icon of the toy building block industry. BetterBlocks went on to have retail sales of $45m and sell over 2 million kits. The unique feature was that the blocks would bend to shape curves—they were flexible! BetterBlocks success was the result of combining a strong and innovative idea with a small, highly skilled team.
Warren Wilson Episode 110
We interview Warren Wilson on Episode 110 of the Invention Stories Podcast. The following are some of the questions we asked him:
What is cool about Australia that people don’t know about?
Are you available to get everything in Australia now with the internet and Amazon?
What kind of kid were you?
Did you create your own motorcycle parts?
Do they have a helmet law in Australia?
Did you have a fear of crashing on your motorcycle?
What are Better Blocks?
Where were Better Blocks manufactured?
Did you create a 30 second infomercial?
What was it like to watch your infomercial on tv?
Did anyone try to knock Better Blocks off?
Was Lego ever interested in buying you out?
How did you get Better Blocks selling world-wide?
Are Better Blocks glow in the dark?
Why do you enjoy volunteering?
Do you enjoy public speaking?
After losing $100,000, what gave you the confidence to invent again?
What did you decide to become an inventRight student?
How did you discover inventRight?
What advice would you give a new inventor?
Anything else you would like to add?
Coming Soon
Another Great Episode for Licensing Advice. Episode 110…Warren Wilson and Better Blocks coming soon on Invention Stories on YouTube
Warren Wison-How to Think like a Successful Inventor-
Warren Wilson has a program he gives away which shows people how he create inventions, using BetterBlocks as an example and how they can create their own “KickAss” inventions.
Inventing Mini-Course of Warren Wilson
Inside this mini course you’ll discover the 3 steps you can use to
create your very own KickA#@@ Idea!!
It’s a FACT!
Most people find it incredible to believe they could have a
KickA#@@ Idea in less than 18 minutes.
In this mini course I give you the exact 3 steps of how I created a KickA#@@
Idea and you can too. The technique I’m about to show you works so well
and is so obvious (once shown) I’m truly surprised you haven’t already
caught yourself using it.
Everybody has uses these 3 steps, mostly subconsciously.
People like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein constantly used it with
remarkable results to create all their inventions.
Once the principles become clear, you will be able to use them at will to
create an abundance of fantastic ideas. To make it easy to follow, I use my
product, Better Blocks as a working example.
If you want, simply use these 3 steps as a template and plug in YOUR
information as we go along, and presto, you have your own $million
idea.
The important thing here is to understand the 3 steps.
The true power of this system is being able to insert
ANY INFORMATION, and achieve the results you want.
Robert Kiyosaki, author and multimillionaire business person explains
this as Content V’s Context. The system is the context, or acts like a bowl
and the information is the content. The content of the bowl can be
anything, fruit, biscuits etc.
You can place any content in the bowl, as long as the bowl is strong.
It is the bowl which does the work and holds the content in place.
What would happen to the fruit in a fruit bowl if the bowl suddenly
disappeared? It would all be scattered.
Information, or content needs a strong framework to keep it organized
(under control) or to make it work.
It’s the context which gives us focus and power.
It is the context, or framework which channels the information, like a funnel,
for the $m idea pop out the other end. So let’s GOOOOOOO!!!
As with all great buildings, their true strength is in their foundation. You
could build a building 10 miles high, as long as its foundation is strong
enough. The same applies to ideas. All great ideas and businesses grow
from a strong or stable pool of knowledge or information.
The First Step Is Gathering Information
Gather all the information you can about the area you want to be creative in.
I was asked to come up with a product which would compete with Lego,
a $1b company which dominated the retail shelves for years.
This was what I did first. (After I got over the initial panic of
“How am I going to compete with a $1b company!!!!?”)
I simply researched and listed all the things I knew and could
discover about Lego and its products.
Here’s some of the information I gathered to create BetterBlocks.
As I’ve said before you can put in your information. BetterBlocks is
simply a guide of how the system works and will work for you to
generate your KickA#@@ Idea.
- $1b company
- Market leader
- High quality of product
- World wide
- Blocks mainly primary colours
- Blocks rectangle or square in shape
- Joined together they form rigid shapes
There are an infinite number of things that could be added to this
list. Add yours.
If you’re creating your own idea make a list of your information.
Right, we have a list of information……….. so what!!!
Stay tuned for your next installment because this is where we create
our KickA#@@ Idea and how easy it can be.
In the meantime, ponder this.
“When your KickA#@@ Idea comes true, what will your life be like?”
Who will be in it? what will you be doing etc?
Part 2
Here it is, the second step to creating your $$$$million idea.
This is how easy it is to create new ideas.
If you want to do something different, you need to do something different!
Creating a new KickA#@@ Idea is simply creating an idea which is
different to what already exists
No rocket science here.
So, the question I can hear you all shouting is “HOWWWWWW???”
Easy.
The second step is…..
LISTING ALL THE OPPOSITES TO THE INFORMTION YOU HAVE COLLECTED.
What this does is start the creative juices flowing.
You may have thoughts which say this is crazy, stupid or any
variations of these thoughts.
Thank them for sharing and just do it any way. These very thoughts
may have been what has stopped you already having your $$$million idea.
This is exactly how I came up with my $$$$million idea.
The real power of this exercise lies in the fact that it starts
us thinking outside the “square” for this is where answers
and ideas come from. If they came from inside the square
you would already have your KickA#@@ Idea and be well underway!!!
Look at it this way. If you keep looking inside the square, are you
doing the same thing and expecting a different result? Yes! Logic
tells us this will not work.
Go ahead, list the opposites to your list.
It doesn’t matter how far fetched they seem, this is simply to
stimulate your creative juices.
An example of an idea that was initially far fetched was Velcro.
When Georges De Mestral first had the idea he was laughed at, now
look who’s laughing.
Here’s my list of opposites.
Information we already know. Opposite information
(Inside the square) (Ideas outside the square)
$1b company Small company
World wide Localised
Market leader Second place, last place
High quality of product Low quality
Blocks mainly primary colours Neon, glow, colour change.
Blocks rectangle or square in shape Round, oval, irregular
Joined together they form rigid shapes Flexible, bendable.
What’s your list of opposites?
So, we’ve got a great list of opposites which gives us lots of
choices. (Have you ever noticed the more choices we have the more
freedom and in control we feel?)
Some choices may be better than others, but that is simply a matter
of opinion. Any one of these answers could be a goldmine.
And how different people would turn any one of these different
answers into $$$million businesses is discussed in detail in my ebook 5 Step
Problem Solving, at www.5stepproblemsolving.com
Our KickA#@@ Idea needs to come from outside the square so let’s
choose to design a flexible, bendable building block as our
$$$$million idea.
Did I say $$$$million idea?
Is it really that simple to have a $$$$million idea???
Yes it is.
But how do we turn it into $$$$$$$’ssssss
That’s in the next step.
There’s a little more to do on this step first.
The real key here is to choose something that interests you. You are willing
to do something to make it happen.
There may be some doubt here, but isn’t it the doubt which give us
the excitement and satisfaction when we have achieved what we want.
Remember a time when you achieved a win and the excitement you felt.
I was confident (with a little doubt) I could design a building block
which moved. I was not so confident (a lot of doubt) that I could
sell the idea, but I went ahead anyway.
The results were well worth it!!!
But what if designing a moveable building block really interested
you and you didn’t have the design skills?
The answer to this is in the next installment
Part 3
At last, the final step is here.
The third step is ACTION!
This is the step which makes you the money.
Money is always a result of doing something, so we need to do
something.
Up until now most of the things we have done have been mental
exercises.
It is the action which makes the thought happen. When you want to
turn on a light, you first have the thought then take the action.
No action!!! No light.
The answer to the question I asked in part 2 “What do you do if you
can’t design a flexible moveable building block your self?” is…..
Find someone who can.
Go out and do what it is you have to do to make your idea happen.
Look on the internet, there are some great sites, like elance, where
there is a great resource of qualified people. Look in the telephone
book. There is always something you can do.
In my eBook, 5 Step Problem Solving I give you ways to
collect more solutions and great ideas for free than you will be
able to use in a lifetime!!
If you went to a design firm and asked them to design a flexible,
bendable building block system and they came back to you in 2 weeks
with this design would it be O.K. with you.
We know what we want to do and have even found people who can do it.
Is there any more????
This is a good time to start laying out a plan of action
In my eBook “How to Think like a Successful Inventor” a clear plan
is laid out of what you have to do to make any idea happen.
You owe it to yourself to be the very best you can be.
What happens for me at times, when I start to take action on a new idea
is a little doubt and fear comes up (well OK, sometimes a lot).
Thoughts like, maybe things will never work out, I’ll look like a fool,
loser etc.
Edison
Edison tried things like burnt toast, and orange peel for light globe
filament before he successfully developed the light bulb. Do you
think he cared what other people thought of him? Do you think he had
doubts??
He tried what he thought would work, and if it didn’t, he simply
tried something else, but at least he knew. He was never left
wondering if it would or would not work.
Robert Kiyosaki says:
Courage is to have fear and doubt and still take action.
So be courageous [[joe]] and do what it is you need to do to
have the success and riches you deserve.
One further word of advice:
Work out the big steps then chunk them down into things you can do on
a daily basis.
Remember the theory of “How to eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.”
So, the 3 steps to creating a KickA#@@ Idea are:
1 Gathering information.
2 Deciding what to do differently
3 Doing it.
What you do with these 3 steps is up to you.
What does seem to stop this simple process for most people is they come
up against a problem they can’t solve.
So, is their a problem stopping you from making your
KickA#@@ Idea happen?
If so, my eBook “How to Think like a Successful Inventor” is a clear
and simple guide of how to overcome any problem in your life. Again
it is a process we already know. It simply has to be brought to our
conscious attention.
Problem solving, like creating ideas, can become as simple as driving a
car, we simply have to be shown how.
“How to Think like a Successful Inventor” shows you how.
To order your copy of “How to Think like a Successful Inventor” and
be well on your way to making your KickA#@@ Idea ideas happen click
here now and you will also receive your free bonus of “The 13 Easy Steps to
Achieving Your Goals.”
To the successes you deserve
Warren Wilson
Ph 0408 234 008
Email warreninvent@westnet.com.au
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/warrenwilsoninventor
Our children are our Future……Treat them wisely.
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