Cultivating Innovation

Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat. - Steve Jobs

I call innovation one of the "i" words, like imagination, inspiration, intuition and illumination. It is a process, like creativity, that rises from an expanded state of awareness, where we find ideas and solution that come from beyond our rational, thinking mind. From this place we can do and be more than we ever considered possible.

Innovation is defined as introducing something new, be it a new idea, method or device. I remember hearing an interview with Steve Jobs where he described inventing the first floppy drive (remember those?); the way he spoke of trying lots of different strategies before it finally worked. Innovation asks for patience and perseverance.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point, identified two types of innovators. The rare conceptual innovators like Picasso who burst on the scene in the early 1900s and revolutionized how we think about art. And the much more prevalent experimental innovators like Cezanne, who worked endlessly by trial and error to find the look that captured his vision.

Picasso dazzled the European art world as a young man with his sudden passion to show a new way to do things; Cezanne's masterpieces did not come until he was in his 50s and then they came in a rush when 40 of his most famous works were produced in a few years.

It helps to understand how innovation works. Like creativity, innovation is usually a process that involves trial and error as well as a learning curve. So many think that this is the domain of a select few rather than a possibility for everyone. 

Now more than ever the world needs people willing to exercise their natural ability to innovate. And it is not restricted to the arts or technology. The development of microlending to help people in the third world become self reliant is a kind of innovation. New strategies for gardening and growing food in very small spaces is another example. 

Asking the question what else is possible here when we need a better way to do something can open us up to receiving new ideas. We can do this in every area of our lives and let ourselves play with new possibilities from a place of curiosity. The challenges we face in the world today can feel overwhelming, yet the solutions to solve our biggest problem already exist. Can we get innovative in their implementation? Can we get innovative in our own lives. Innovation, like creativity, puts us in the flow, which always feels good.

Embracing Your Inner Weirdo

Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from. - Jody Foster

It is never too late to be who you might have been. - George Eliot

The word weird is derived from Old English. Originally spelled wyrd it was a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to our fate or personal destiny. In Beowulf, one of the oldest book in the English language, there is a reference to the hero being on his weird way or his destined path. The word weird further evolved over time to refer to that which is strange in a supernatural way.

In contemporary times the original definition and connotation of the word has been lost and we associate it with being odd or strange. Anyone who acts outside the limited parameters of socially acceptable behavior or the boundaries of what we think of as normal we call weird. As social creatures we want to feel that we belong so we often resist expressing our uniqueness since we don't want to be seen as weird or different.

People have been calling me weird since high school and I remember the first time I said "thank you" when they did. I must have realized even then that there was something good about being weird. The label came largely from the fact that I was being more creative, playful, imaginative and expressing more of my authentic self than we were being schooled to do.

Being creative shakes up the norm. It adds spice, color and joy to the world. I've come to feel that that is the job of the artist or those who express their creativity in any way. If each of us is going to bring these unique gifts to the world, we have to be willing to be a little weird. We need to accept and embrace the ways we are different even as we know we are part of the whole. We need to claim our own callings that come as the still small voice within us that may suggest a course of action that our mind and the people around us will think is weird but our spirit knows is the right thing to do.

What if it's our weirdness the world needs right now. What if you being you is the change you can be that will ripple out to transform the world in positive ways and bring more joy and satisfaction to your own life. What if a willingness to be seen as little weird is what is required to be on your destined path. What if weird could be the new normal