Invention, Patents & Trademarks
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Dan Miller’s Blog
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Book Reviews
Dan Miller's Blog 
February 14, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I read your book. It’s nonsense. I think of things like how to remove the inefficency from the interal combustion engine — more power and better gas mileage. I’m not an engineer; no one is going to let me do that.
The answer to antibiotic resistant bacteria is simple but, once again, I’m not a medical doctor; NO ONE is going to listen to me about that.
Saving 20,000 of the 35,000 that are killed each year in car wreaks, is just an engineering problem. People think Edison invented the light bulb; he didn’t. There were light bulbs before. They were hand blown, expensive and didn’t last very long. What he did was solve an engineering problem (with 10,000 steps). Saving those 20,000 people a year is the same thing but someone has to care and NO ONE does.
I see inefficiency everywhere I look. EVERYONE has these thoughts. I just don’t see how any of that daydreaming applies to the real world where money talks, and if you have none you’re trash, and no one cares about anything but proven producers of more money.
March 11, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Dear Michael Smith,
No one expects you to find the cure for cancer if you are not a doctor or scientist. No one expects you to find a better way to design the internal combustion engine or build a better bridge than the Golden Gate if you have no training in engineering or such fields. And yes there were light bulbs and cars before Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. But who made the ideas practical and affordable for the average consumer?
What do you have to offer the world? What is it that excites you? I was just overwhelmed during the reading of “No More Mondays.” I just got the book a day or so ago and just can’t hardly put it down. I have never seen such a book that focused so much on human potential. I for one have been one of those people “locked into a job I have gotten tired of. No longer a sense of accomplishment or feeling that I may be making a difference. I want a change. “No More Mondays” is the catalyst that is allowing me to make those changes and get out of the comfort zone.
My goal? I want to be in public speaking. I want to uplift and challenge groups of people to do extraordinary things with their lives. I want to make a difference by changing the lives of others. There will always be people like Lucy, the cartoon character in Peanuts. When she told Linus she didn’t want to feel good. What about you Michael? What do you have to offer the world? Spend some time with yourself. Spend some time getting to really know you. There is a plan for you Michael. There is something only you can fulfil. Be honest with yourself Michael. No one can hold you back except you. Not your past. Not your family. Not where you grew up or how much money your parents had. Not the color of your skin. If you fail to do something substantial with your life, you will have only you to blame. Thank you Michael. God bless you. And thank you Dan Miller.
August 25, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Michael,
I want to encourage you as well brother. Yes, you certainly are entitled to your opinion, but take another glimpse at what Dan says about looking at you situation from different perspectives. This is an ongoing growth within your self that will only get better if you continuously put it into practice. You are well capable of inventing or re-inventing a method for the manufacturing of a new engine or antibiotic. What makes those who created the original ones more special than you? You are wonderfully and fearfully made, as God Himself has said, and have been instilled with the same creative abilities as those people. They simply refused to lie down until accomplishment was achieved. Also, Dan talks about revising current models. Almost all of my inventions or ideas are spawned from taking a look at the flaws in current ones. You criticized the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford for being re-inventive. But, Michael, do you want expensive hand-blown bulbs in your house or are you happy with the cheap, long-lasting ones you use now. Maybe God’s calling you to create an even more efficient bulb, thus making you the new Thomas Edison whom you once criticized. ???
October 14, 2008 at 12:19 am
Michael,
Not “everyone” has these thoughts. True, we all have great ideas from time to time, but from reading your post, I think it’s clear that you have more ideas than the average person–and I’m guessing that some of your ideas are actually pretty extraordinary regardless of your dismissal of them.
I totally get what you’re saying about how ideas need the right skills to make them happen, but I do think you’re mistaken if you think your ideas are simply daydreaming. I think the point of Dan’s basic philosophy in reference to big ideas is that we have to be willing to look at our ideas in a different way–creatively. And creativity has never been about having all the right materials at the right time in all the ideal circumstances; it’s always been about seeing something a new way and figuring out how to work with what you have–and what you might have missed were all those ideal settings in play. There’s a good reason why there are a lot of millionaires who aren’t really making a positive impact on the world whatsoever. Generally they have some pretty ideal circumstances (being that most of us think that one of the main elements preventing our idea/vision from becoming reality is money), and sometimes that’s actually the problem.
As you say, the other big obstacle we see often is lack of expertise. But if one is more interested in helping others through a big idea (as you seem to be) than in making that idea profitable before all else, lack of expertise is not so much a problem. If you want to see a big idea go somewhere to find out if it truly is a solution, I would think that communication and collaboration can often go far. As a small example, my brother-in-law is an industrial designer (among other things); he’s an incredible artist, engineer, and creative problem-solver, and he works for himself. Many of his projects are his own ideas, but many of them are the ideas of other people who lack his expertise but are creative enough to collaborate and see if their idea will pan out. As you say, the obstacle that often prevents real problem-solving or greater efficiency is that no one yet has cared enough to go out on a limb to attempt to do something about it at their own risk. It takes someone to try–with what elements they already have available and the creativity to see the problem from a hundred different angles. And often, that one person’s initiative inspires someone else (with a different set of gifts and skills) to join them in discovering a solution.
Not trying to preach here or give advice since you were not asking any of us. Just trying to say that I see something extraordinary in your words and hope you’ll stop dismissing your ideas as mere daydreaming.
October 14, 2008 at 12:43 am
Oops. I just realized I’m on the 48 Days blog–not the No More Mondays blog I also had open in another tab! I have not read 48 Days; I’m merely an editor who is reviewing No More Mondays at the moment. So I can’t speak for Dan’s philosophy in the former book; all I can say is to give the latter a try even if you didn’t connect with the first.
June 2, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Dear Dan,
I have already read No More Dreaded Mondays and in the process of reading 48 Days and I think they are both wonderfully inspirational. If I have an idea that I would like to present to a company to make one of their products better, how do I do that without them stealing the idea for themselves and capitalizing on it?
Thanks,
Allison
July 12, 2010 at 10:16 pm
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July 12, 2010 at 10:16 pm
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July 12, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Great information for new inventors. I really want to read your books. Which book should I start with?
April 3, 2016 at 7:38 pm
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