Innovation is fuzzy language. It’s an abstract concept for most people. In basic terms, it is an act of exploration and discovery. It is a daily practice of courage and mindfulness to see the world as it is, take imaginative leaps into the future, and take smart risks for implementing appropriate solutions.
In The Innovator’s DNA, Clayton Christenson and his colleagues conducted research on innovative people and firms (Amazon, Google, Apple, etc.) and concluded that the top skills for mastering disruptive innovation are observing, questioning, associating, experimenting, and networking. Anyone looking to create any sort of change would be engaged in these activities to some degree. This is basic sense. As children we do these things naturally, it is ingrained into who we are, but as we grow older we are taught to forget or repress the basic principles of discovery. Most schools and corporations don’t want you to be curious, they want you to conform.
How do we reclaim our inner child? Again, it is a daily practice of courage and mindfulness to be creative and engage in innocent wonderment. Strong innovators have a big appetite for aimless wandering as they disarm their cognitive chatter and amuse unknown territories, without getting stuck on the need to control things.
In other words, you do not have to even know what innovation means to be an inventor. In fact, a key part of the innovation process is to stay stupid and suspend judgment. All you need to do is be yourself and take action on what matters.
Innovate strong!