Here are my two examples.
The Neo Nurture device. The person who invented this solved a problem in a very creative way. In fact, the entire history of the incubation machine is an interesting (and creative) one. It's not difficult to keep premature babies alive. You basically have to keep them warm. Simply doing that will decrease the infant mortality rates significantly. However, the man who invented this incubator noted that America sends incubators to Africa every year. The problem was simple: the expensive machines work great, for a year.
After a year, some component in the machine breaks. No one in a small African village has the technical skill to fix such a complicated machine. So the incubator sits useless and premature babies begin to die in greater numbers again.
This inventor went to Africa and toured several villagers. He asked a creative question: "Obviously, the average African villager doesn't have the training or skills to fix a complex incubation machine, so what do they know how to fix?"
He immediately began to observe that the average African village has many cars on their roads. So he creatively designed an incubation machine made entirely of car parts. So when one inevitably breaks, the hospital can call a mechanics to come and fix it. The machine is up and running and premies continue to survive.
This man wakes up every single morning knowing that he has saved the lives of hundreds of babies. That's not a bad feeling to have throughout the day!
These two high school students devised a creative plan: to send a Lego mini figure into space.
Brilliant! They did it all on their own too. No adult intervention.
They sewed the parachute themselves to make sure the mini fig made it back to earth. They included a camera to document the voyage. They included a cell phone to track the package once it returned to earth. They even bought the helium for their balloon from a Party America store (if memory serves me correctly).
They used a variety of skills and strategies to accomplish a task. Moreover they documented it and uploaded it to Youtube, where it has millions of views.
Now what college isn't beating down the doors to get these two kids to attend their university?
A bonus example:
Stumble Safely. The city of Washington DC wanted to publish some of their previously private data (which included, among other things, property tax and crime rates).
They did something creative though. Instead of just releasing the information, they held a contest: whomever could devise the best way to use the information for the public good would earn a $10,000 prize.
The winner did something even more creative: the devised the app stumble safely.
Say you're a 21 or older college kid out at a bar and you've had three beers in the first half of the Monday Night football game and you just remembered you have a big test the following morning. So you get into your car and head home.
However, your tail light is not working. You are pulled over for a routine stop. The officer smells alcohol on your breath. He gives you a breathalyzer where you blow just over the legal limit.
You're immediately arrested. You will pay over 10,000 in fines. You will lose your license. Not to mention you'll miss out on the big test the next day, which means you fail the class, which causes you to have to drop it since you'll fail the course now. This means that you also have to lose out on your financial aid package. Long story short, you go from a promising junior student to greeter at Wal-mart.
Well, Stumblesafely can help.
Instead of getting into your car (never, ever a good idea after being out), you just punch in the location of the bar you're in and the location of your apartment. The app then uses the tax and crime rates to give you a route that is the safest for you to walk home. Safely.
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