Many innovators choose to spend time away from ‘institutions’. Even if they do belong to an organisation, they create some kind of distance. This may be a physical distance – such as working at home or in their own ‘laboratory’. Or it may be a psychological distance – such as doing things differently.
Imagine you want to exercise your creativity. Let’s explore three themes regarding the need to spend time away from institutions in order to be creative.
1) You can recognise the places where you can innovate.
“I spent years working inside organisations trying to persuade people to change,” said one person. “But I was battling against the nature of systems theory.
“Systems move towards homeostasis – the drive to return to their present state. Sometimes this can be good, because it creates stability. But sometimes it can be dangerous, because it can be a question of develop or die.
“Systems sometimes drive out the creativity they need to survive. So I found other ways to develop new ideas.”
Imagine you want to create something. This often calls for going through the stages of innovation, implementation and impact. Sometimes this can be equated to building a ‘house’. As mentioned in an earlier article on the blog, there are three places where you can develop your idea.
* You can try to innovate within an existing ‘house’.
You can aim to introduce a new idea or build a prototype within an existing organisation. This route has several pluses, such as being able to use the system’s resources and get a salary. But there are also some minuses. It can mean fighting resistance and getting ideas through ‘committees’.
Certainly it is possible to innovate within a system. But this usually calls for using approaches such as Appreciative Inquiry. This approach invites people to recall:
a) The times when they performed brilliantly.
b) The principles they followed to perform superb work.
c) The specific things they can do to follow these principles again in the future.
Appreciative Inquiry invites people channel these energies, rather than instructs them to ‘change’. Nevertheless, it can be exhausting to develop new ideas within a system. Warren Bennis, the expert on leadership, said:
“Innovation by definition will not be accepted at first. It takes repeated attempts, endless demonstrations, and monotonous rehearsals before innovation can be accepted and internalized by an organisation. This requires 'courageous patience'.“
* You can innovate by building a new ‘house’ that is connected to an existing house.
This is a common route followed by innovators. Such people spend a lot of time setting-up the venture to succeed. They make clear contracts about:
a) The picture of success.
b) The overall strategies.
c) The support required to achieve success.
After agreeing on the goals, for example, it is also vital to get the autonomy required to deliver the goods. Whilst maintaining a connection to the existing organisation, such people often build the prototype in a separate physical place.
Why? They may need to create a different culture to deliver success. The corridor connecting them to the existing ‘house’ may be short or long, but there is still a connection.
James Yorke, the mathematician who coined the term mathematical ‘chaos’, said: “The most successful people are those who are good at Plan B.” Such innovators deliver a successful Plan B for their existing organisation. Sometimes this then becomes the future Plan A.
* You can innovate by building ‘a new house in a new place’.
Some people decide to go far away from institutions. James Lovelock, the controversial scientist, maintains this is the only way to develop new ideas. He says: “Scientists in an institution do only 20 minutes work a day.” They spend the rest of the time in meetings.
Innovators need oxygen to breathe. Imagine you want to create something new. It may be important to find a green field site where you can make the rules. You can then be a pioneer and do brilliant work. On the other hand, you may be treated like a pariah and possibly go bankrupt.
You will, of course, choose your own place to innovate. Each place has both pluses and minuses. Whichever path your take, however, it will be important to take the next step.
2) You can create the time and space to innovate.
Different people have different creative styles. But they virtually all go through the process of ‘opening up’ and ‘closing down’. Stimulated to tackle a challenge, they open themselves up by gathering lots of information. Making sense of the ideas, they then ‘close down’ and settle on the route to explore. They continue to open up and close down until ready to form their conclusions.
Sometimes the breakthroughs come from piecing together seemingly unconnected ideas. Margaret J. Wheatley endorsed this approach when saying:
“Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries.
"Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren’t there before.”
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Describe the specific things you can do to create the time and space to innovate.
Some people create the practical space, such as setting aside blocks of time to develop their ideas. Some create the physical space, such moving to another location. Some create the psychological space, such as putting themselves in situations where they get positive stimulation.
Try completing the following sentence.
3) You can go through the process of innovation, implementation and impact.
Some people love to simply innovate. They love making breakthroughs and enjoying a sense of wonder. Some also want to implement the ideas and make them work. This calls for going through the process of innovation, implementation and seeing an impact.
Looking back on your life, can you think of a time when you went through these stages? You may have written a book, organised an event, designed a garden or delivered a project.
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe the specific time when you went through this process. Second, describe what you did right to make this happen. Third, describe how you can follow some of these principles in the future. Try completing the following sentences.
There are many ways to be innovative. But these often call for people having the freedom to think and breathe. They need to spend time focusing on creative solutions, rather than trying to persuade committees. Buckminster Fuller said:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Sometimes this is easier to make happen when breathing the free air, rather than when working in an institution.
Posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 4:07 am in Strengths, The Strengths Blog | RSS feed
| 
Print This Post
| Respond | Trackback URL
July 27, 2011 at 5:20 am