Innovation Takes Practice More Than Talent
Bill Gates, Temple Grandin, Steve Jobs, Bette Nesmith Graham (the inventor of Liquid Paper) and Art Fry (the inventor of 3M Post-It notes) – are they geniuses? Maybe yes, or maybe not.
Innovation is open to every man, woman, and child. It requires an inquisitive mind intent on solving an existing problem. Persistence to find an answer is part of the practice. In 1873, a 15-year-old grammar school dropout named Chester Greenwood invented earmuffs. He made a fortune.
Individuals are developing meaningful, big-impact innovations by doing something as simple as looking at a common product in a new way to solve a problem. Last year, two emergency medical doctors, Dr. Richard Schwartz and Dr. John Croushorn, created an inflatable abdominal tourniquet for injuries like an aortic rupture that occur in the vulnerable torso, which military body armor does not shield and where conventional tourniquets don’t work. Their inflatable tourniquet provides time for a soldier or citizen to receive care. A once-fatal injury has lost some of its sting.
Innovation doesn’t live only in Silicon Valley or at the top tier of business management, nor does it thrive just during boom times. It doesn’t require a team meeting or a think tank, although these have their roles. It doesn’t even need an outsized talent (compared to the rest of us mere mortals) to set the spark going. It requires a nimble mind and asking the sometimes unexpected questions, like Dr. Grandin, who designed innovative cattle restraint systems by applying behavioral principals rather than additional force — an invention that kept cattle safer and calmer.
Innovation is a skill set that can be improved with practice. You can teach your brain to better recruit its idea-producing networks and expand its ability to innovate. One research study published in the Creativity Research Journal in 2008 showed that simple, general intellectual stimulation such as being open to new ideas, taking on challenging tasks or expanding knowledge (such as learning a new language), and interacting with stimulating people and places can enhance the brain’s facility to innovate. And this is just one of many recent brain researches that indicate that much of our ability to have insights, see connections, be creative, and innovate better is governed by controllable factors.
Innovation is hard-wired in humans, perhaps because we always seek to improve. It’s part of our DNA. It will continue to drive economies, cultures, and quality of life, with new consumer conveniences, health-prolonging and life-saving devices, advances in technology, improved communications, and yes — newfangled warm headgear to get us through the winter. There are so many products, services, and ideas we have yet to even imagine that will improve both the quality and spirit of human lives.
