When we think about innovation, we don’t start this thinking process with an understanding of how something can be better; we focus on why something should be better. The reason why it’s needed is our driving force. So if this is true, why is it that so many organizations get stuck in the how? I believe it’s because the easiest way to procrastinate from moving forward is when you are bogging down your momentum with the madness of requiring absolutes.
“When you stop looking for absolutes is when you discover the excitement of the unknown.”
–RJS
Our world moves along with us or without us. The challenge is being able to visualize what’s ahead, or around the corner, or coming to the belief that some things are perfect the way they are. Those who can take the power of their imagination and funnel it towards being creative will find themselves on the road to what I call “creation implementation”. Our imaginations only become valuable when what they describe is created.
In my lifetime, there have been many technological advances. Some of these were short lived, and some have redefined how we live our lives. Many in the world continuously look at the failures they’ve had over the years as their reasons to procrastinate in bringing their imagination to the creativity stage.
“Those with curiosity look at what has failed as merely the first try towards something better. “
They see the failure as a tool; they see a beginning to what their imagination can recreate.
Innovation and time will continue changing the landscape, and some of these changes will affect how we do things. However, the why we do things will always be the birth place of something new. The current and future consumers of our goods determine why they use them. Those pioneering a new way bet on the importance and acceptance of what they deliver.
They have a clear understanding of why what they do or provide will benefit its consumers. Once they begin their quest, they perfect the process and the deliverable to match the why it’s needed. Why is an emotional based quest, and how is a perception of facts that may highjack the ‘moving forward’ phase of developing the new way.
Nothing can be perfect until it’s perfected. Perfection is a result of continuous observation and reaction to what’s observed. The why something needs improvement will provide the pioneer his directions. The how it will be done should follow those directions – not the other way around.
“Creativity is the language of your imagination “
–RJS
Agree that “why” is a great starting point. I would add “what is possible” is another way to trigger our thinking,