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Evolutionary Ideas: Unlocking ancient innovation to solve tomorrow’s challenges
When faced with new challenges, it’s easy to feel our solutions need to be equally unprecedented. We think we need a revolution. But what if this is a big mistake?
In Evolutionary Ideas , Sam Tatam shows how behavioural science and evolutionary psychology can help us solve tomorrow’s challenges, not by divining something the world has never seen, but by borrowing from yesterday’s solutions – often in the most unexpected ways.
Just as millions of years of evolution have helped craft the wing and dorsal fin, thousands of engineers, designers, marketers and advertisers have toiled to solve many of the problems you face today. Over time, through intent, design, social learning and sheer luck, we have found what works.
Armed with an enhanced ability to see these patterns in human innovation, we can now systematically approach the creative process to develop more effective ideas more readily and rapidly.
In the same way Japanese engineers reduced bullet train noise by studying the evolved biology of the owl and kingfisher, today we can see how Disney improved the queueing experience in the same way Houston airport made arrivals feel faster (while making people walk further). We’ll learn how the chocolate at the bottom of a Cornetto ice cream can improve an Error 404 message, and what a bowl of M&Ms has in common with a canary in a coal mine.
These are Evolutionary Ideas .
Exploring five of the most critical challenges we face today, we learn how to ‘breed’ more effective solutions from those that have survived. The result is a dynamic and exciting way of solving problems and supercharging creativity – for anyone in any endeavour.
In Evolutionary Ideas , Sam Tatam shows how behavioural science and evolutionary psychology can help us solve tomorrow’s challenges, not by divining something the world has never seen, but by borrowing from yesterday’s solutions – often in the most unexpected ways.
Just as millions of years of evolution have helped craft the wing and dorsal fin, thousands of engineers, designers, marketers and advertisers have toiled to solve many of the problems you face today. Over time, through intent, design, social learning and sheer luck, we have found what works.
Armed with an enhanced ability to see these patterns in human innovation, we can now systematically approach the creative process to develop more effective ideas more readily and rapidly.
In the same way Japanese engineers reduced bullet train noise by studying the evolved biology of the owl and kingfisher, today we can see how Disney improved the queueing experience in the same way Houston airport made arrivals feel faster (while making people walk further). We’ll learn how the chocolate at the bottom of a Cornetto ice cream can improve an Error 404 message, and what a bowl of M&Ms has in common with a canary in a coal mine.
These are Evolutionary Ideas .
Exploring five of the most critical challenges we face today, we learn how to ‘breed’ more effective solutions from those that have survived. The result is a dynamic and exciting way of solving problems and supercharging creativity – for anyone in any endeavour.
326 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2022
44 people are currently reading
1000 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 1, 2023
Evolutionary Ideas by Sam Tatam is a book that shows how behavioural science and evolutionary psychology can help us solve tomorrow’s challenges by borrowing from yesterday’s solutions. The book has the following main points:
- Most problems we face today have already been solved by someone else, either in nature or in human history. We can learn from these solutions and apply them to our own contexts.
- The book introduces two frameworks for finding and adapting solutions: TRIZ and biomimicry. TRIZ is a method of systematic innovation that uses patterns of invention from engineering and technology. Biomimicry is a practice of emulating nature’s strategies for solving problems.
- The book explores five critical challenges we face today and how we can use evolutionary ideas to address them. These are: aiding decision making without limiting choice; reinforcing trust without altering the truth; triggering action without forcing a response; boosting loyalty without increasing rewards; and improving experience without changing duration.
- The book provides examples of these principles in action and shows how we can convert them into questions to guide our own problem-solving process. For example, how can we make people feel more secure without lying to them? How can we motivate people to act without coercing them?
- The book acknowledges that evolutionary ideas are not a perfect science, but they enable fewer blind assumptions and more informed choices. The book also reminds us that revolutionary ideas (moon-shots) are rare and risky, while most innovation is evolutionary and incremental.
I found this book very valuable and insightful, as it helped me see problems from a different perspective and gave me tools to generate more effective solutions. I think this book could be especially useful for anyone interested in behavioural science, as it shows how we can apply evolutionary psychology to influence human behaviour in positive ways.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to solve problems creatively and efficiently by using evolutionary ideas.
- Most problems we face today have already been solved by someone else, either in nature or in human history. We can learn from these solutions and apply them to our own contexts.
- The book introduces two frameworks for finding and adapting solutions: TRIZ and biomimicry. TRIZ is a method of systematic innovation that uses patterns of invention from engineering and technology. Biomimicry is a practice of emulating nature’s strategies for solving problems.
- The book explores five critical challenges we face today and how we can use evolutionary ideas to address them. These are: aiding decision making without limiting choice; reinforcing trust without altering the truth; triggering action without forcing a response; boosting loyalty without increasing rewards; and improving experience without changing duration.
- The book provides examples of these principles in action and shows how we can convert them into questions to guide our own problem-solving process. For example, how can we make people feel more secure without lying to them? How can we motivate people to act without coercing them?
- The book acknowledges that evolutionary ideas are not a perfect science, but they enable fewer blind assumptions and more informed choices. The book also reminds us that revolutionary ideas (moon-shots) are rare and risky, while most innovation is evolutionary and incremental.
I found this book very valuable and insightful, as it helped me see problems from a different perspective and gave me tools to generate more effective solutions. I think this book could be especially useful for anyone interested in behavioural science, as it shows how we can apply evolutionary psychology to influence human behaviour in positive ways.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to solve problems creatively and efficiently by using evolutionary ideas.
August 7, 2022
This book is filled with interesting stories and research studies about the crazy ways our misjudging brains make decisions. While this content was interesting, I found this book rather scattered. The books lays out a lot of stories and facts, but fails to coalesce the information in useable takeaways. Tatam is an entertaining writer and a good researcher, but I found this booked lacked insights and takeaways.
November 17, 2022
Some clear pathways to expand your thinking
For product and experience designers, this book is a handy guide to stretch your thinking. In a logical and tight format, the author provides us with a tour of psychological principles that we can leverage to become more innovative. The language is clear and concise, and the organization is logical and tight. The book includes easy, formatting, so that you can use it as a reference or checklist of helpful questions.
For product and experience designers, this book is a handy guide to stretch your thinking. In a logical and tight format, the author provides us with a tour of psychological principles that we can leverage to become more innovative. The language is clear and concise, and the organization is logical and tight. The book includes easy, formatting, so that you can use it as a reference or checklist of helpful questions.
January 3, 2023
في الماضي، شهدت الحيوانات التي استمتعت بطعم الدهون والسكريات نجاحًا في التكاثر بسبب الفوائد التي توفرها لها هذه العناصر الغذائية. نتيجة لذلك، يمتلئ العالم اليوم بالكائنات الحية التي تمتلك براعم تذوق مكيفة للكشف عن السعرات الحرارية، وتفضيل شبه عالمي للحلاوة.
Sam Tatam
Evolutionary Ideas
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
Sam Tatam
Evolutionary Ideas
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
November 17, 2024
I really enjoyed this book however a lot of the principles I have read about before:
1. TRIZ - Russian acronym for ‘theory of inventive problem solving’. Three important elements
1. It’s been solved before
2. There are consistent patterns of solutions
3. Solving contradictions creates breakthrough innovation
2. TRIZ helps to address challenges like ‘how might we make a bullet proof vest stronger without becoming heavier?’ - address the contradiction
3. TRIZ identifies patterns in existing solutions, akin to the classification of biological species, these are called inventive principles
4. Behavioural science has given us a means of more precisely classifying the real of psychological - a more granular understanding of what might constitute loyalty, for example
5. Psychcological principles are the connective tissue between the evolved solutions in the wid and the challenges we can solve today
6. Anchoring: quantity anchoring example: ‘max 4 per customer’ actually encouraged people to take more than 1
7. Labour illusion, operational transparency, social proof, signalling —> Reinforce trust: what expense or cost would demonstrate our trustworthiness? How might we illustrate the sacrifices we are willing to make for others? How might we create a clear signal or otherwise-unseen trust affirming activities? What unexpected absence would increase trust that action is necessary? What might be taken away to illustrate the behaviour of other previously?
8. Pattern deviance, completeness, salient feedback, reactance -> help make the first move. Triggering action: how might we create an obvious trigger for when action is necessary? What info might we withhold to create intrigue? What can we ask people not to do…knowing they might be tempted to?
9. Commitments, goal gradient, endowed progress, variable enforcement —> boost loyalty: how might we help people see that progress has been made (e.g. pre-stamped loyalty card), how might we experiment with infrequent negative outcomes (e.g. Doritos roulette), how might we bake in an element of novelty?
10. Reduce uncertainty, occupied time, the peak-end effect -> improving experiences: how might we tell people what’s coming next to reduce uncertainty? How might we expose the process so people can see what’s happening and where they stand? How might we make unavoidable waiting times and opportunity for an alternative experience?
1. TRIZ - Russian acronym for ‘theory of inventive problem solving’. Three important elements
1. It’s been solved before
2. There are consistent patterns of solutions
3. Solving contradictions creates breakthrough innovation
2. TRIZ helps to address challenges like ‘how might we make a bullet proof vest stronger without becoming heavier?’ - address the contradiction
3. TRIZ identifies patterns in existing solutions, akin to the classification of biological species, these are called inventive principles
4. Behavioural science has given us a means of more precisely classifying the real of psychological - a more granular understanding of what might constitute loyalty, for example
5. Psychcological principles are the connective tissue between the evolved solutions in the wid and the challenges we can solve today
6. Anchoring: quantity anchoring example: ‘max 4 per customer’ actually encouraged people to take more than 1
7. Labour illusion, operational transparency, social proof, signalling —> Reinforce trust: what expense or cost would demonstrate our trustworthiness? How might we illustrate the sacrifices we are willing to make for others? How might we create a clear signal or otherwise-unseen trust affirming activities? What unexpected absence would increase trust that action is necessary? What might be taken away to illustrate the behaviour of other previously?
8. Pattern deviance, completeness, salient feedback, reactance -> help make the first move. Triggering action: how might we create an obvious trigger for when action is necessary? What info might we withhold to create intrigue? What can we ask people not to do…knowing they might be tempted to?
9. Commitments, goal gradient, endowed progress, variable enforcement —> boost loyalty: how might we help people see that progress has been made (e.g. pre-stamped loyalty card), how might we experiment with infrequent negative outcomes (e.g. Doritos roulette), how might we bake in an element of novelty?
10. Reduce uncertainty, occupied time, the peak-end effect -> improving experiences: how might we tell people what’s coming next to reduce uncertainty? How might we expose the process so people can see what’s happening and where they stand? How might we make unavoidable waiting times and opportunity for an alternative experience?
February 24, 2023
This was an enjoyable read, a fun read in fact. Its value, and this applies for most pop psych books of course, will depend on your knowledge about behavioral science. Evolutionary Ideas is an accessible and interesting introduction to behavioral science if you are new to the field, but less if you've already read several books on the topic.
I found the first part of the book the most interesting. Here Tatam introduces three strategies for solving problems: biology/evolution (biomimicry), technological innovation (TRIZ method) and Psychology. Those first two strategies have a lot of potential for broadening the potential of applied behavioral psychology. I guess I expected Tatam to give these three strategies equal attention. As such, I was rather disappointed that most of the book (85%) is mainly about psychological mechanisms that have already received ample attention elsewhere.
I found the first part of the book the most interesting. Here Tatam introduces three strategies for solving problems: biology/evolution (biomimicry), technological innovation (TRIZ method) and Psychology. Those first two strategies have a lot of potential for broadening the potential of applied behavioral psychology. I guess I expected Tatam to give these three strategies equal attention. As such, I was rather disappointed that most of the book (85%) is mainly about psychological mechanisms that have already received ample attention elsewhere.
December 20, 2024
This was a very tricky book to assess. It was both complex and incredibly basic, especially if you are a heavy consumer of psychology books. I'm not sure I can put my finger on exactly why I feel that way - perhaps the writing/formatting style? Just when I thought I wasn't going to enjoy it, it would take me into an interesting passage and grab me back into the fold. There is much to like in the book and an early premise that innovation itself is often misunderstood as the pervue of the most creative and innovative of people when, in fact, most innovation is iterative of what came before it rings so true to me.
June 9, 2022
This book is quite special because is it full of interesting common life facts as well as their application to business scenarios. There are plenty of things I have learned from the book that seemed to be obvious to me however they are behavioral patterns that can be well explained as well as applied in marketing and sales. This book is not a pure business book and on the other hand it shows how research and experimentation can be applied or have already been used by companies to influence consumer choices and decisions.
Disclaimer: I got an ARC of the book and very happy about this!
Disclaimer: I got an ARC of the book and very happy about this!
August 25, 2022
Interesting, thought provoking and plenty to be learned from this book.
A special book with the chance to learn life facts that may have been overlooked, this book strips back and let's the unfold to us, some of the things I had picked up on seemed to be blatantly obvious and that's okay because when reading mostly, I always learn but this was in a beneficial type of way.
It shows how behavioural patterns can inform choices and consumer decisions in ways we may not have previously realised.
Many thanks to netgalley and publishers for the FREE ARC in return for my review.
A special book with the chance to learn life facts that may have been overlooked, this book strips back and let's the unfold to us, some of the things I had picked up on seemed to be blatantly obvious and that's okay because when reading mostly, I always learn but this was in a beneficial type of way.
It shows how behavioural patterns can inform choices and consumer decisions in ways we may not have previously realised.
Many thanks to netgalley and publishers for the FREE ARC in return for my review.
June 2, 2022
This was an interesting and thought provoking read that made me think about things I had never really stopped to think about before. It was well written, easy to understand and full of information.
August 23, 2022
This book will create untapped opportunity across many industries. I think we're sitting on a classic.
April 24, 2023
This is a great book - lots of familiar ideas and concepts, but a great collection of reminders with nice short chapters anchored in short stories to illustrate the concepts.
September 22, 2024
Decent book, but if you've read alchemy it will feel repetitive.
September 25, 2023
This book would be insightful for those who are new to behavioural science and it complies all the terms and findings.
Hence, I was disappointed as I was hoping to learn more about how we all innovate by observing what mother nature has given us, the ability to evolve to fit in the environment.
Instead, it ends up being about psychological biases.
Hence, I was disappointed as I was hoping to learn more about how we all innovate by observing what mother nature has given us, the ability to evolve to fit in the environment.
Instead, it ends up being about psychological biases.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews