The Secret That Makes Inventing and Product Development Work For Everyone, Anywhere

One huge characteristic of all inventors we have read about, we have witnessed, and those we are growing right now, it that they stay with a product until it starts to ring the bells. Our generation has been spoon-fed with quick fix theory that can’t even boil an egg, these is why most inventors today fail. They give up too soon. They even truncate their own innovative ideas by dragging in another idea before the previous one is tested.

Here, I will give you four essential tenets of inventing and product development -- especially once the rush of a great idea makes it from your imagination to paper or prototype.

1. Inventing is work that requires passion. Passion motivates us to persevere. Enthusiasm is essential to convince not only others of the worthiness of your ideas, but to convince yourself as well. You are going to have to do a lot of hard work before an idea reaches the point where a consumer realizes it's exactly what they've been looking for.

Truly passionate inventors embrace the flaws in an idea, seeing them as pathways to workable solutions. Many aspiring entrepreneurs, however, are like my buddy, seeing criticism not as the starting point for revisions, but as red lights.

According to psychologist Martin Seligman, we can overcome pessimism by consciously developing our brain's optimistic side using "self-talk" -- a technique that involves actively disputing pessimistic assessments of our situation. This isn't just a personal pep talk. It's a rational and impartial way of looking at failure as temporary and fixable, which allows us to move on to new solutions.

2. Question everything. The moment you discover your idea is somehow not working can occur at any stage on the journey. Since I know this from experience, when a new idea pops into my head, I immediately start looking at all the negatives and potential challenges. I know if I uncover problems at the beginning and can solve them, there will be fewer obstacles along the path.

This habit can be frustrating to others who want me to just enjoy the idea, and not be so objective. But I can't help it. I know that the myriad issues I have to tackle later will be lessened if I can eliminate other structural, marketing or packaging problems as soon as possible.

3. Trial and error is a good thing. There are times when you find you have to go one more round with an idea, create one more prototype, write one more description or marketing message and it just seems endless. You feel like the juices have stopped flowing. This is when you have to "act as if" and just sit down and do what needs to be done.

Going through the motions seems antithetical to creativity, but it's really not. In fact, thinking -- even seemingly "forced" thinking -- does fire up our neurotransmitters, and what started out feeling forced may turn out to be your best work ever. Bottom line: push through the resistance.

4. There is no magic answer. Just as there is no one perfect way to live your life, there isn't just one way to solve a creative problem. Stay the course, roll it over with more and more innovations. Any cool idea could be the winner if the inventor stay the course.

There are multiple ways to tweak a product to make it better. The one you settle on depends a lot on your purpose, audience and expectations. That's why I advise innovators to make a product as early and as quickly as possible in order to let people play with it and offer useful user feedback.

Remember: Criticism shouldn't invalidate your ideas. It should serve to strengthen them. If you really love your idea, you'll be willing to listen, learn and pivot when necessary.