So Scott Adams has a basic formula for a successful comic. In order for something to be funny, you need at least two of the following elements:

• Cute (as in kids and animals)
• Naughty
• Bizarre
• Clever
• Recognizable (You’ve been there)
• Cruel

Looking through the funny pages (actually, the not-so-funny pages) this weekend I noticed 3 comics that followed his formula exactly. Mean talking animals seems to be the flavour of the day (Family Guy anyone?), and that hit 3 of 6 right there. Perhaps Adams is right.

This makes me wonder if there is a similar formula for innovation–surely a formula for innovation is no more unthinkable than a forumla for humour (then again, I don’t find many comics that try to pull off the formula to be terribly funny, except for the foxes above–they crack me up, probably cause they hit 4 of 6).