The creative process takes time. Innovation has its time. This means that we can't reject an idea because it doesn't work at that particular time, in that particular place or in that particular guise. Give it time to develop and for the environment to change around it and it will evolve.
Consider the classic case study any MBA student will be able to tell you about - 3M. This chemicals company spent millions of research dollars on trying to develop a new glue that was super strong but at the same time less messy and dangerous than the other "super glues" on the market at that time. However, no matter how many techno-geeks they threw at the problem, the glue they produced was either too messy or not sticky enough. After years of trying and a massive development budget had been poured down the drain, the company gave up on the project.
One scientist with an acute brain for business saw his opportunity and agreed to buy the rights to the last failed batch of glue and the machinery required to manufacture it. 3M pleased to recoup a minute portion of their otherwise wasted outlay were only too happy to oblige. However, our boffin had an inspirational idea of what to do with the glue. He simply pasted it on the back of small, brightly coloured bits of paper. These could then be written on and stuck to computer screens, notice boards, fridges, doors, notebooks - anywhere. The beauty was that because the glue was not sticky (not sticky enough for 3M's super glue remember) the notes could be removed and re posted somewhere else. The Post-It Note was born. As the telephone became a ubiquitous item on every desk in every office, and voicemail was practically unheard of, the Post-It Note became a necessity for the busy executive who didn't want to miss any calls but wasn't nailed to his or her desk.
In the end, 3M saw the potential in this new product and bought back the rights for millions of dollars. The glue, which was utterly useless at the wrong time and in the wrong application was a revelation waiting to happen and Post-It Note has become a part of everyday language.
In this example, 3M could be said to have been guilty of 'premature evaluation' - not giving a new innovation time to evolve and find its place in the world. During brainstorming sessions we do this all the time. Someone shouts out a great idea and everyone suddenly sees the solution to their problem. This then quickly gets adopted as the successful output of the meeting and everyone goes back to their desks happy. But stop right there... Research tells us that the best ideas, those that are most likely to be adopted and add value to a business, come in the last 25% of any brainstorming session. Generally, the most obvious ideas come out first. The least obvious one's struggle out later and it's these ones we're after as if a solution was so obvious, we probably wouldn't need a brainstorming session in the first place would we?
Creative Copying is another example of the timeliness of innovation. This is the process of taking someone else's idea and then manipulating it to suit a particular purpose or re-introducing it when the time is right. Think of Da Vinci's helicopter. It was never going to work - a great idea, but we just did not have the materials or manufacturing technology to realise his designs. I also remember Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC's Top Gear programme slating the new satellite navigation systems because, frankly, it didn't work. The annoying robotic voice of the very expensive system took him miles out of his way on what should have been a relatively simple journey. But look at the SatNav device now and another household name in TomTom. The idea was great, the technology and the market just wasn't ready for it at that time.
In summary, give innovation time to develop. Innovate for the future and remember "tomorrow will be forgotten by the middle of next week" and in any case "tomorrow never comes".
Showing posts with label Learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Learning. Show all posts
Curiosity and Six Honest Serving Men
In this post I want to go through one of my ideas on what makes an individual effective during brainstorming - what makes some people more creative than others…
One competence that any creative person should have is a vivid sense of curiosity. I think it was Emerson that once said “to the dull mind nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind the whole world sparkles with light”. I like this, it sums up how a curious person will feel compared to someone who walks around with the weight of the world on their shoulders, constantly looking at their feet and consequently missing out on a whole raft of opportunities and stimulants. If you walk around looking at your feet, sooner or later you’re going to bump into something and fall flat on your face… Sure, if you’re doing the opposite and always looking up at the sky, the rooflines of buildings, at the faces of passers-by, at some point you might trip over an unexpected crack in the pavement - but you’ll go down happy, illuminated and full of reasons why to get back up again…
So, to be curious we need to be receptive to the world around us. Soak up information, seek out new knowledge - have you ever come across a word you didn’t understand - did you look it up in the dictionary or encyclopaedia? Why not, with the advent of free online encyclopaedia like Wikipedia, there’s no excuse. Aim to learn at least one new thing every day.
The best learners are our kids. They also happen to be the most creative individuals on earth. Copy them - lock up the adult brain for a while and let out the child in you. Do your kids drive you crazy with the constant question of “why?” … Try using Serial Questions such as “Why did X happen? Because Y happened. And why did Y happen? Because Z happened. And Why did Z happen? Because… (etc…). At some point the damp squib will run out of excuses and reasons as to why not. Next time you come across something you‘re told is “just so“, ask yourself the 5 W’s and an H. Kipling put it better than I ever could so listen to what he says:
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I know)
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
(Kipling, 1902)
You’ll annoy the hell out of the people your asking the questions of but remember what you tell your kids “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” and in this case it’s knowledge and inspiration we’re after…
Right. There’s lots more on my website about Curiosity and how to engender it into our everyday lives, but in the meantime I’m going to leave you with a quick win, something you can do right now to make yourself more curious and hence more effective in brainstorming…
Make room to give yourself 20 minutes of undisturbed time. Sit down in a quiet room, or better still your favourite location - at the beach, in the forest, in an empty football stadium wherever… Sit and listen. What can you hear? Now really focus on listening. Close your eyes so you shut down one of your other senses. Listen hard and carefully. After a period of time you’ll start to hear a multitude of noises you never heard in that place before. You can repeat this exercise using your other senses - really study your favourite painting, building, photograph or even your living room floor. What can you see that you couldn’t before. Try examining a peanut in its shell for 20 minutes. You’ll be amazed at how complex it’s structure and texture is. The idea here is that you’re training yourself to be receptive to your environment, to see and hear stimuli that you’d missed before. So, when the next great idea or inspiration comes along, you’ll see it before anyone else does…
Be curious.
One competence that any creative person should have is a vivid sense of curiosity. I think it was Emerson that once said “to the dull mind nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind the whole world sparkles with light”. I like this, it sums up how a curious person will feel compared to someone who walks around with the weight of the world on their shoulders, constantly looking at their feet and consequently missing out on a whole raft of opportunities and stimulants. If you walk around looking at your feet, sooner or later you’re going to bump into something and fall flat on your face… Sure, if you’re doing the opposite and always looking up at the sky, the rooflines of buildings, at the faces of passers-by, at some point you might trip over an unexpected crack in the pavement - but you’ll go down happy, illuminated and full of reasons why to get back up again…
So, to be curious we need to be receptive to the world around us. Soak up information, seek out new knowledge - have you ever come across a word you didn’t understand - did you look it up in the dictionary or encyclopaedia? Why not, with the advent of free online encyclopaedia like Wikipedia, there’s no excuse. Aim to learn at least one new thing every day.
The best learners are our kids. They also happen to be the most creative individuals on earth. Copy them - lock up the adult brain for a while and let out the child in you. Do your kids drive you crazy with the constant question of “why?” … Try using Serial Questions such as “Why did X happen? Because Y happened. And why did Y happen? Because Z happened. And Why did Z happen? Because… (etc…). At some point the damp squib will run out of excuses and reasons as to why not. Next time you come across something you‘re told is “just so“, ask yourself the 5 W’s and an H. Kipling put it better than I ever could so listen to what he says:
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I know)
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
(Kipling, 1902)
You’ll annoy the hell out of the people your asking the questions of but remember what you tell your kids “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” and in this case it’s knowledge and inspiration we’re after…
Right. There’s lots more on my website about Curiosity and how to engender it into our everyday lives, but in the meantime I’m going to leave you with a quick win, something you can do right now to make yourself more curious and hence more effective in brainstorming…
Make room to give yourself 20 minutes of undisturbed time. Sit down in a quiet room, or better still your favourite location - at the beach, in the forest, in an empty football stadium wherever… Sit and listen. What can you hear? Now really focus on listening. Close your eyes so you shut down one of your other senses. Listen hard and carefully. After a period of time you’ll start to hear a multitude of noises you never heard in that place before. You can repeat this exercise using your other senses - really study your favourite painting, building, photograph or even your living room floor. What can you see that you couldn’t before. Try examining a peanut in its shell for 20 minutes. You’ll be amazed at how complex it’s structure and texture is. The idea here is that you’re training yourself to be receptive to your environment, to see and hear stimuli that you’d missed before. So, when the next great idea or inspiration comes along, you’ll see it before anyone else does…
Be curious.
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