A common misconception today is that innovators are innately creative people. In fact innovators aren’t born, they’re made. So we can learn the attributes that leading innovators share.
1. Risk- take risks. The real fun in life is taking risks and trying something new. To try and fail is at least to learn. To fail to try is to suffer the inestimable loss of what might have been.
2. Try-try lots of ways.There cannot be a thing called “good habit” in the context of innovation. Anything that becomes a habit cannot produce something new, cannot bring in some changes. The mind is programmed to function in the same way and to expect the same outcome. So there is no question of innovation.
3. Flip-flip yr plan from the end. Start with end in mind. A problem statement should end up with an interrogation mark. The question also should be an open-ended question which will lead to several answers. ‘Population Explosion" in India’ is a simply a statement. “Can we do anything for the population explosion in India?” is still not a problem as this is a close-ended question leading to known number of sure answers such as “Yes”, “No” or “May be.” It becomes a problem only when it is phrased like “How can we control the population explosion in India?”
4. Solve – solve a simple ordinary problem everyday. Moving from ‘yes, but’ to ‘yes, and’ is in fact moving from the limited left brain to the fertile right brain.
5. Grow- grow with each approach. SCAMPER is a ‘mnemonic’ that stands for: • Substitute •Combine• Adapt• Modify• Put to another use • Eliminate• Reverse. By asking questions about existing products, services or strategies, using each of the seven prompts of SCAMPER, one can come up with creative ideas for developing new and for improving the existing ones.
6. Inspire-find what inspires you.Inspired people seed the problems in their subconscious minds and at the unexpected moment, bout of ideas spring up. The subconscious mind is the storehouse of all our knowledge, which we have gained from our childhood.
7. Learn-learn more about the failures.
8. Explore- continue to explore wherever you are are.
9. Think- Take time to think.Sleeping on a problem is a common strategy successful people use for finding solutions. Unconscious mental processing, called incubation, has provided some greatest breakthroughs in history.
10.Ask- ask random people about things. Dissidents are the people who help us see things, which we fail to see, or are not able to see. Of course there are several of them doing this for various reasons.
11.Open- be open to Ideas. You cannot see something new by looking harder in the same direction.
12.Express-boldly express ideas.
13.Press- Press into an idea, Draw it out, share it, rework it.
14.Change-embrace change with an excited heart. Each day is a great opportunity to try something new and push yourself into areas that test your capabilities as well as widen your horizons. If you fancy taking on something extra special, start with the following personal challenges: Run a marathon, Volunteer for charity work, Exercise your brain by learning a new language or to play a musical instrument.Surprise yourself by doing things which you said to yourself, ‘I could never do that.’Get a new job. Overcome fear by doing exactly that. Join a sports club.
15.Raise funds for charity.
16.Act- act on innovation when the ideas come.act on it.The major issue in implementing an idea is the mindset. Five point strategy, 1) Persistence 2) Influencing people 3) Back to the drawing board 4) I’m in charge and 5) Taking systems view.
17.Search-search for another way.Treat it like a maze.
18.Process- be open to the process.
19.Challenge- find people who will challenge you.
20.Dream-Dream, record your dream, put it into action.
21.Share- share your idea with others, work together.
22.Draw- Draw out what the problem is – Draw out the solutions.
23.Pursue- Pursue innovation. Do not wait for it to come.
24.Reach- Reach beyond your own abilities.
25.Improve- Identify ways to improve every aspect of your life.
26.Dare- Dare to challenge the accepted. Create a challenge book.A challenge book reflects curiosity and curiosity is the mother of innovation. Sometimes curiosity is triggered by necessity. Increasing energy costs, necessitates one to look for alternate sources.
27.Create- Create an environment of innovation.Make it the norm.
28.Share- share ownership of innovation.Knowledge is available everywhere: Knowledge today stands distributed. So it is now crucial to identify promising ideas from anywhere before others do so.
Reading:
1. Who is Creative?
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1142469
2. 101 Ways to Create and Innovate, Annamalai Natarajan ,
https://www.flipkart.com/101-ways-create-innovate/p/itma8d5522bb4fd9
3. Video : https://youtu.be/ke8nFuG_FZw
