One of the things that I am becoming increasingly aware of in my research project is the importance of prototyping, as prototypes serve as excellent boundary spanners, in settings characterized by diversity. Prototypes can activate different forms of knowledge, especially in cross-disciplinary groups, where it can be difficult to combine and exchange knowledge pertaining to different knowledge domains.
It was therefore with great enthusiasm that I read through this Japanese book from 1995 picturing an incredibly funny selection of totally unuseless Japanese inventions. The author has named this phenomenon CHINDOGU, which in Japanese means “unuseless tool” invented to solve everyday problems and needs. The author has turned chindogu into an art form, celebrating the art of the unuseless idea. Or as the book describes: “bizarre and logic-defying gadgets and gizmos, which must work (to be classified as chindogu), but are actually entirely impractical”.
Flipping through the book is amazingly funny, its like watching the Invention Channel on a really good day - but to an innovation affacinado like myself, the book also serves as an important reminder of the need for prototyping, as described above, and especially in documenting the importance of quick and dirty prototyping. Course the interesting thing about these chindogus is, that they seem to be EXCELLENT ideas, when you think about them, and talk about them - each and everyone actually. And it is only when they are prototyped, turned into action, that the inventor (and the rest of us), realize to TOTAL unuselessness of the idea.
So beware, is the idea you are working on right now truly an innovation or is it a CHINDOGU? The only way to find out is to either look in by prototyping.....
The book mentioned here Kenji Kawakami: “The Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions” (1995). There are a few websites on Chindogu, unfortunately they do not seem to have been updated for a long time.
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