I saw a video recently where the famous architect Richard Rogers talked about his watch — the Accutron Spaceview — which rather than hiding its inner workings reveals them through a transparent face. Roger’s most famous building is the Centre Pompidou, which — inspired by the watch — also has its parts on display.

Tinker Hatfield, another design icon, studied architecture before becoming a shoe designer. His most famous design is the Air Max which proudly shows the inner structure of the air cushion through a window on the sole. His inspiration? The Centre Pompidou.

A watch, a building, a shoe. The same idea: three different products.

A simple route to more innovative or creative solutions is to “lift and shift” ideas from one domain to another. But when we’re under pressure to deliver we tend to do the opposite — recycling well-worn solutions from our own field. This is ultimately self-defeating, since we all end up converging on standard solutions so don't stand out in the market.

To avoid this trap, it pays to keep an eye out for concepts you can steal from elsewhere. Once you start looking you’ll see opportunities everywhere. Best of all, it’ll keep you inspired, stop you from sliding into a rut, and help you consistently produce more innovative, distinctive work.

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