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 system rather than external pressures. By a sequence of formal operations (defined as templates) on the initial structure of a system, an innovative structure involving a new system is obtained. The sequence of operations is prescribed by well-defined procedures. The replacement template is illustrated in this work by two field cases and its potential value is tested empirically. Given the abundance of innovations in which the templates are manifested, the replacement template can be considered an exemplar for utilizing intrinsic information about a system in the development of innovations.