Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
as an innovator, understand that a criticism like “It's never been done before”
is probably the most heartwarming thing you will hear - if it's never been
done before, you are on the right track! “Remember, innovation is more about
psychology than intellect.”
[4]
In other words, we don't utilize our intellect
because we are deterred by negative psychological feedback.
Risk Taking and Comfort With Making Mistakes
No one likes to fail. We expect success, view ourselves as successful, and are
often unprepared for mistakes. This attitude has to change if you want to be an
innovator. Expect that things will fail over the process of learning. That's what
prototypes are for. Even your brand new cell phone probably has something you
would like to change about it. Don't sweat it! It's a learning experience, and you
can bet someone who works for your phone company is working on fixing that
problem. I always tell my students, you don't need to be a perfectionist to be a
person of excellence. Don't turn in a project late because you spent so much time
going over a particular concept when you should have the confidence that it will
work out because of your intellect. Perfectionism is not a healthy trait. When
things don't work out, in the research field, we don't call it a failure - we call it
a research outcome. So we should apply this to innovation and call these innova-
tion outcomes - rather than failures. It just means we need to try something else.
Comfort in Your Environment
The more relaxed and calm we are internally, the more receptive we are to tap
into our flowing creativity. Our feelings impact how we think, the way we think
impacts our level of creativity, and our creativity impacts the ideas we generate
which ultimately affects the level of innovation that will be realized. So find a
way to achieve calm creativity.
Find a space that makes you susceptible to that creativity. Some work envi-
ronments aren't conducive to creativity, so spend some time at lunch or before
work focusing on these things. Although the innovator may have the “EUREKA”
moment in the shower, that idea is a culmination of multiple interactions through-
out the day, week, or even month. Each of us has different triggers for our creative
energy: during tea time, before bed, while exercising, in the shower, wherever it
is, find your creative zone! I get into my creative zone from sitting in a comfort-
able chair in a room with fragrant candles burning, holding a warm cup of French
vanilla coffee, with jazz playing softly in the background. Many great thinkers go
on long walks to help them solve problems. Experiment and find what works for
you. Sometimes it is helpful to make a list of the ideas you have at the time, an
hour later, and then a day later, because sometimes ideas take time to incubate.
Writing Things Down
Writing an idea down makes it real, tangible, and more likely to be obtained. You
can keep Post-it® notes or sketch paper around, or type it into your computer,
Search WWH ::
Custom Search