Templates of original innovation: Projecting original incremental innovations from intrinsic information

A systematic framework for the enhancement of inventiveness is introduced. According to the proposed approach, the starting point is an existing syste m rather than external pressures. By a sequence of formal operations (defin ed as templates) on the initial structure of a system, an innovative struct ure involving a new system is obtained. The sequence of operations is presc ribed by well-defined procedures. The replacement template is illustrated i n this work by two field cases and its potential value is tested empiricall y. Given the abundance of innovations in which the templates are manifested , the replacement template can be considered an exemplar for utilizing intr insic information about a system in the development of innovations. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science Inc.