Winners: The 2021 Forness® Awards
ITG's Forness® Awards highlight creative products that made it to market despite seeming a little far-fetched on the surface. For a better understanding of the Forness® mindset, you can see the full webpage here, but it's all about combatting Negativity Bias and moving the good in an idea forward. Humans are quick to point out how an idea can fail, so it can be difficult to bring an idea that pushes the boundaries to market.
For 2021, each Facilitator at ITG nominated a product they thought was great, but probably received some internal pushback when it was first mentioned. We compiled all of the nominations and let the people decide which idea deserved the top spot in the Forness® Awards. Check out the podium below!
2021’s Forness® Awards Podium
First Place: Bug-A-Salt Insect Gun
Headline: an assault gun to kill ants.
Imagine you are in your bedroom and notice a slight black shadow moving across your wall. Dang recluse! You could get rid of the spider the normal way—grab a stool and some paper towel to squash it with your hand. Or you could kill it with a gun! It seems like a crazy idea, and maybe it even looks crazy. But after ITG Facilitator Greg Cobb got his hands on the Bug-A-Salt Insect Gun, he realized its potential. Maybe he'll start intentionally letting bugs into his house now.
Second Place: Kichwit Jar Opener
Headline: a tool that helps you turn jar caps counterclockwise.
"Open the jar," they said. "It will be easy," they said. We've all been there: the all-too-stubborn jar of pickles won't budge. You can try the at-home remedies all you want, like tapping a knife around the edges or running hot water over it. Or you could use the Kichwit Jar Opener, the unexpected savior of the day! ITG Facilitator, Beth Storz, thought the idea was a little far out and unnecessary, but with Forness® thinking the Jar Opener made its way into Beth's kitchen.
Third Place: Thermacell
Headline: a 20-foot mosquito shield.
With delicious blood, ITG Facilitator Monica Grant can't keep the mosquitos away. No remedy seemed to work until she found her Thermacell repellent. An invisible shield that sits on a table sounded the "Yes, but..." alarm immediately, but Forness® thinking prevailed and won the bug shield a spot on the 2021 Forness® awards.
To see the full list of 2021's Forness® awards nominations, check them out here. Don't forget to watch all the videos to see why each product earned its nomination!