Innovation is fun and exciting; hearing about it is very inspiring. Yet, it can quickly become overwhelming. I heard some people start to make excuses about why they "can't do that". But, here's what I heard: "DREAM BIG, THINK SMALL" To me, anything is possible when this is the mantra. We can dream big and get there. The trick is to be really clear about what our end goal is first. This is harder than it sounds, but is the key to it all. Then we figure out the tool to get us there. And take it one step at a time to reach the end. We can't reach the end of a big dream in one or two steps, so we need patience AND persistence.
Which leads to the other key thing I took away from the conference. The traits that are critically needed for innovation to happen:
- Passion,
- People
- Persistence,
- Personal persistence
We have to deep down believe what we are doing is right and be persistent in the pursuit of it. Persistent to overcome all obstacles - and obstacles are very attracted to innovative ideas. Passion is the fuel for persistence. Without passion, obstacles will likely triumph over innovation. So, let's all find the thing we are passionate about and let's all allow others to be passionate. I think sometimes passion is "punished" @ CML. Passion is not the problem, but sometimes the behavior it inspires is...well, ineffective or inappropriate. So, I hope that rather than squishing passion, we can coach the passionate to display it effectively and appropriately.
Finally, "Innovation is a means to re-invention; innovation is not an end." I think someone said something like, "all things have been done before, innovation is about doing it differently." That makes innovation less overwhelming to me. We just have to make good things fit in the current context of our society. Hmmm. DREAM BIG
1 comment:
I like the idea of all things having been done before - innovation is renewing them. Maybe we should use that when we hear people say "we did that before and it didn't work".
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