The five mindsets that drive innovation
Image courtesy of Nasa on Unsplash
Putting a man on the moon was a truly extraordinary achievement wasn’t it? I am no physicist, therefore the practicalities of such an accomplishment are well beyond me. But to coin a phrase: ‘you do not need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate the mind-boggling scale and complexity of what a group of brilliant academics and courageous volunteers were able to achieve back in July 1969’. Indeed, it is when you consider the wider context of significant risk to life, uncertainty of outcome and damage to national prestige, that you realise that the moon-landing was not just a triumph of science, it was also a triumph over adversity.
That is belief and innovation for you; dare to believe and you open up the door-ways of innovation and the possibility of the impossible. In the face of belief and innovation, insurmountable barriers become hurdles, risks become opportunities and fear becomes faith. Some of the most extraordinary achievements in the fields of medicine, science, technology and wider human endeavour have come about because people had the audacity to believe that such things were possible. Energised by their belief, they organised themselves, and like-minded others, to innovate in ways that no-one thought possible. So here’s the rub: innovation is not just a single mindset, it is actually a series of them. But what are these mindsets and how do they work? Well set out below are the five mindsets that drive innovation.
1. Conception
With innovation, if you can conceive then you can believe and if you can believe, then you can achieve. With innovation, belief generates the dynamic energy for what you conceive (in your thoughts) to be achieved (through your actions). If you conceive of something, but upon contemplation, conclude that it is unachievable, the prospect of success dies at the conception stage. By contrast, once your belief accords with what you conceive, your thinking, attitudes and behaviour become energised and aligned. This alignment creates the spark for innovation and through which effort can be focused and targeted towards the objective that you want to achieve. This is why conception is so important in the context of innovation. It creates the ‘dynamic’ space for ideas generation, it encourages us to get things going and compels us to get things done.
2. Reception
Have you heard the saying: ‘if you give me sticks, I will make ladders’? What about the one that goes: ‘give me lemons and I will make lemonade’? That is how the mind of the innovator works. They do not waste a thought on what might have been, but rather are compelled by the energy of what might become. With innovation, reception is about posture and stance and the realisation that, in order to create a default for success, thought-life needs to be organised around possibilities, not problems. Of course, when the innovator steps up to the plate, some will accuse them of being delusional, whilst others will tell them that the risks far outweigh the rewards. Ultimately, however, the innovator understands that there is a certain predictability about life: if you do nothing, then you will achieve nothing.
3. Perception
With innovation, perception is not just the awareness of one’s surroundings, it is the ability to read and evaluate one’s space. Those with a strong sense of perception, are not only able to understand what they see, hear and feel but also what it means. Perception in the mind of an innovator functions much like a canvass in the hands of a painter. A painter, with a canvas sees an opportunity and wants to create things, whilst an innovator facing an obstacle, also sees an opportunity and wants to improve things. When perception becomes the catalyst for innovative thinking, then the impulse to test and challenge becomes habitual rather than conditional, essential rather than optional.
4. Inception
Usually, when we think of inception, we think about the start of something. In the context of innovation, therefore it would be the moment when the spark of creativity gives birth to viable idea and a plan. However, with innovation, inception actually starts with a far-sighted vision and stretching ambition to do something more and achieve something better. It is the far-sightedness and stretching that creates the space for innovative problem-solving to thrive in the first place. Therefore in the toolbox of the innovator, inception is important not just because it helps creative ideas to flourish, but more importantly, because it survives the very notion of failure itself. Well developed plans can quickly unravel and unmanaged risks can become unmanageable hazards, but a uncompromising vision and ambition that compels you to try, try and try again will outlive them all.
5. Exception
The exception mindset is the very essence of innovation. By definition, anything that is exceptional is set apart, distinct, different and incomparable to everything else. Not only that, exception is also a measure of excellence. As such, it is a standard by and against which others can be judged as well as a higher-level benchmark to which they can aspire. In the same way, innovation is a discernible break from convention, tradition and norm. Restless in its disposition and posture, innovation poses new questions and challenges to the status quo, whether that be in terms of thinking or practice. Innovators are driven by the desire to be exceptional; they are ambitious for change, intolerant of mediocrity and hungry for improvement.
In conclusion, I think it was Nelson Mandela who once crisply observed: “it is impossible, until it is done”. Think about and absorb that quote for a moment. On the face of it, what seems like a contradiction in terms, is in actuality the very essence of the innovation mindset. This is because, if an obstacle is only insurmountable for as long as it takes for you to surmount it, then there is no such thing as an insurmountable obstacle. When you think of it like that, then maybe putting a man on the moon wasn’t such a big deal after all!
