This week’s motivation comes from the Exxon Valdez oil spill problem. More than 20 years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, cleanup teams in subarctic waters still struggled because oil became so thick at low temperatures that it was difficult to pump it from barges to onshore collection stations.
In search for a solution, the Oil Spill Recovery Institute decided to frame the problem as one of "materials viscosity" rather than "oil cleanup" and used language that was not specific to the petroleum industry.
The goal was to attract novel suggestions from many fields since they didn't seem to be finding solutions within those studying petroleum. And, on cue, a chemist in the cement industry proposed a modification of commercially available construction equipment that vibrated the frozen oil, keeping it fluid, and thus making it easy to pump.
There aren’t many moments that we become inspired by the oil and cement industries but this is certainly a great example on how getting creative, asking for assistance and reaching out paid off!
This week, let's experiment with different definitions of problems for creative solutions.
Have a wonderful week from your friends at the Credo Community Center!
