Be a Better Inventor (Or How To Not Get Fired)

I read a Businessweek article called Three Types of People to Fire Immediately. It was about which employees a boss should fire if they wanted to increase the innovative potential of their business or company. However, I realized that with a little shifting of perspective this article was great advice about becoming a better inventor. Read the original article and then let me give you the low-down on the three types and how I saw them more as three tips.

1. Victims, the employees who react to being asked to solve problems as if their bosses were overburdening them rather than challenging them..... Well of course, an inventor should not feel overwhelmed or put off by the challenge of solving problems for other people. A good inventor should be someone who loves a good challenge. As a matter of fact, a good inventor should leap at that opportunity. So the advice here would be do not be intimated or back down from challenges, embrace them as an opportunity to grow as an inventor.
2. Non-believers, the employees who doubt upfront that something is possible to do and have a losing or we will fail attitude, while believers have that anything is possible or we can do it attitude.... The tip here for inventors is that invention is all about creating novel and new solutions, just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean that it can't be done. Remember the old saying, "where there is a will, there is a way." So believe you can.
3. Know-It-Alls, the employees that have all the answers and keep themselves closed off to new solutions or new ways of looking at things.... Good inventors are also good learners and should be eager to seek out new information.