Dennis and Michael Moss are my new heroes. They get it. When the father/son duo decided to enter the lucrative bagel cutting invention market a couple of years ago, they did what those who have gone before them failed to do. They noticed a pattern, then they entered an already glutted bagel cutting device market with a new invention and a new take on an old problem.

By taking into account patterns of human behavior and examining the how/why of cutting accidents, they created something people might actually USE. Sure, the Bagel Guillotine is the greatest SELLING invention in the past two decades (80,000 a year according to an article in the Wall Street Journal) but over time, Dennis’ and his son Michael’s invention will top that. Why? Because, according to the same article, this father and son team did what no other bagel inventor did - they took into account HOW people NATURALLY cut bagels and solved the problem of how to cut bagels in a natural way that people would adopt, rather than just solve the cutting problem. They learned:

(1) Most people don’t know how to use knives. They cut towards themselves, not away from themselves.

(2) People cut with a natural sawing motion.

(3) People buy gadgets but if they don’t use them every day, they put them away and then are too busy to find them - “Just to cut a bagel.” So even people with bagel guillotines and other bagel cutters end up in the ER. How did Dennis know this? He’s a doctor AND a medical manager. His son Michael, who helped him, has worked in design, media and innovation for more than 12 years. They’re both, by profession, TRAINED to look for PATTERNS. So when people kept showing up in the ER with bagel cutting injuries in spite of OWNING a bagel cutter, Dennis got curious.

So they created the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer see the photo above. It’s essentially a serrated knife inside a case. You cut towards yourself but the plastic guard around the outside the blade stops the blade before it gets to your hand or finger. So you can be a bonehead and still not cut yourself.

According to the article, the way other people approached this problem was to change the BAGEL, not work with the person. Walmart and Dunking doughnut steamed their bagels - making them fluffy and easy to cut, but destroying that chewy bagel essence that is a bagel!!! Lenders, fearing “bagel litigation,” pre-sliced their bagels - making them safer, but also less fresh and chewy. Other bagel cutters created devices or gadgets that solved the problem of cutting the bagel, but didn’t factor in human nature.The things that intrigue us most are things that take into account our nature - the way we do things. Whether it’s a camera or luggage strap that curves to fit our shoulder more naturally, or extra large zipper pulls for when we’re outside in cold weather wearing bulky gloves that can’t grasp an average zipper, we appreciate things that show the inventor or business took into account our humanity and our nature. How can your business do this?

Read the Wall Street Journal article for details on the history of bagel cutting inventions - it’s a fantastic piece, very well written.

P.S. Bonus Blog extra

If you want to invent something but don’t know what you want to invent. look for patterns. Go to the new and improved and finally easy to navigate CDC website and pick a category and look for patterns in why people are getting hurt, burned, cut etc. and see what actions, times, ages, places, etc. they have in common - then start inventing. It’s a goldmine of ideas and potential. And if you already have a business - look for things related to your business to see where you might improve or change something.