Are you a problem solver? Need a problem solved? Now there’s a social network

The New York Times reports on Innocentive, a company that’s all about solving problems – and highly varied ones at that. Here’s an excerpt:

Dwayne Spradlin, president and chief executive of InnoCentive, said in an interview that the company had solved 250 challenges, for prizes typically in the $10,000 to $25,000 range. According to the Web site (www.innocentive.com), the achievements include a compound for skin tanning, a method of preventing snack chip breakage and a mini-extruder in brick-making.

“Odds are one or more products in your home has been innovated in our network,” Mr. Spradlin said. “Procter & Gamble has products that were innovated on the InnoCentive network.”

InnoCentive began in 2000 as e.Lilly, an in-house innovation “incubator” at the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, Mr. Spradlin said, with the company posting problems that its employees had been unable to solve. From the beginning the results were good, he said. “Most of our companies tell us they have a one-third or better solve rate on their problems and that is more cost-effective than anything they could have done internally.”

Here are some of the problems that are currently available to be solved:

We are interested in finding ways for people to make long-term habit changes in lifestyle. This is an Ideation challenge so your creativity and experience qualify you to participate in this challenge. Responses are expected to be about 2 written pages. (award $20,000)

My solution: spankings for adults when they engage in bad habits; problem solved, but there may be limitations

Design a long chewing product that does not require disposal. The product can dissolve in the mouth or break-up and be swallowable with no negative health impact on the body. (award $100,000)

My solution: I have this product I’m “developing” – I call it “salt water taffy”

We are looking for a technology that allows a timed-release flavor change to occur in a food product. (award $50.000)

Wait a minute, didn’t Willy Wonka already invent this? Oh yeah, he did, but it turned Veruca Salt into a giant blueberry.