adminIT is confession time again! That moment when the great Zach, the mighty Zach, Zach the awesome reveals that he is not Superman and tells of a significant failing in his persona. Do not be alarmed mortals, for this weakness will in no way affect the mirth, merriment and instruction dished out on this column on a weekly basis.
The fact is that I am remarkably deficient in the area of mechanics and other similar endeavours. Sure, I can change the oil in my car or replace a washer on a dripping tap, but I am woefully inept on more complicated.
In such circumstances I generally defer with those whose skill compensates for this obvious genetic defect.
One such person is my friend Richard. Richard amazes me with his ability to visualise a problem and its solution.
He thinks in three dimensions, he would literally destroy a 3D Tetris in a matter of seconds and can unscramble a Rubik cube in under a minute.
I had a construction problem involving curtain railing. Rather than bore you with the details, it was similar to needing a new insole for a left shoe, but only having a right insole available.
I was stumped. I mentioned this to Richard whose response was “turn it upside down”. Now the right insole fits in the left shoe and I have a solution.
Sounds simple? Well it is. Sheer innovation on Richard’s part. Richard is a great innovator. He sees solutions and improvements to things. We could all do with a little more innovation in our lives.
Innovation should be an intentional part of what we do. It is easy to get stuck in the routine of day to day and never give a second thought to making it better.
If you find yourself a simple minion carrying out commands from higher up the chain the chances are you never take time to think about improving things.
Not to mention that, in a Draconian organisation the chances are your ideas are not welcome anyway. Our creativity needs to be planned and given time to ferment ideas.
Coming up with new ideas for things for the most part is probably best if done in your area of passion and strength.
In the construction example, it is not that I cannot innovate I was just limited by my lack of confidence in that particular field.
Allow me to creatively come up with a new sales pitch, however, or refine a business system and bamm! It just flows out. Of course, Google and some knowledge acquisition can help to tilt the balance if faced with a problem in unfamiliar territory but for the most part people innovate best in their field.
English author Sir Terry Pratchett’s perspective on inspiration is that “Inspiration Particles sleet through the universe, each heralding a moment of brilliance: a new symphony, a way of getting from A to B quicker than before, lines for a new play, or deeper understanding of something than was previously comprehended.
“Most of them are doomed to miss, or to reveal their brilliance to a brick wall or a starling, which is totally unequipped to deal with the revelation.
“Some however, hit the right mind at the right time, and a little later you are blinking foolishly in the TV lights and wondering how the hell you thought of sliced bread in the first place.”
If we never do anything with the inspiration we may as well be a brick that had a good idea. For an idea to become a reality it requires one of those other things we could all do with a bit more hard work.
Ideas on their own are just little neuronal firings. I am currently reading “One Simple Idea” by Stephen Key. It takes the process of creativity to practical application by licensing your idea to other companies.
Say, for example, you had an improvement to the bottle opener. Rather than making your own bottle openers you approach a company that already does and sell them your idea.
Sounds really, really easy. Bottom line is that it takes a lot of hard work to create an idea, design a prototype, protect your intellectual property and sell it effectively.
Change takes energy. Creation takes energy. Too many people treat the idea process like the lottery, they have an idea and sit on it waiting for the day their big break arrives. They never pursue it, refine it, or take the steps to sell or manufacture it. It stays an idea. One of the other reasons an idea stays so is because of an inherent lack of trust in society. If I bring you an idea then I have no guarantee that you will steal it and make it into your own.
This means that as well as protecting my brainchild with patents and proof of ownership I am a little reluctant to hand them out.
On the flip side we should value innovation and be willing to pay for it. Too often we spend ages trying to come up with a solution on our own, spending a fortune on our own R&D departments, instead of having the humility and wisdom to ask and pay others for advice.
I doubt that tablets and smart phones would be as popular as they are if the companies who make them had tried to develop all the apps for them on their own. Instead a wealth of innovation is available for a fraction of the cost.
Unleash your brains this week, take of the blinkers and let us be more creative. Kick-start the process of improvement. And remember, everyone needs a Richard in their lives.
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