What does it take to innovate?

In this blog, we dive deep to understand the more fundamental question: "what does it take to innovate". This topic deals with the intricacies of the mind, about passion involved in innovation, about keeping distractions at bay, etc.

Getting ideas that are worth pursuing

In order for us to become creative, innovative, we have to first look into our own mind. We need to understand how the mind operates. The mind is ever active, constantly thinking one thing or the other. We keep moving from one thought to another, all through our waking hours, every single day. If we closely observe how our minds function, we realize that it is a four-step process:

1. We get a new thought
2. We sustain the thought for a short while, at most a few seconds
3. The thought dies
4. There is a brief silence before the next thought is born

This 4-step process repeats itself again & again, and happens so fast that we don’t even realize that there are four steps in which our thoughts come and go. We don’t even realize the brief silence that exists between one thought and the next. It happens all too quickly. But, when we observe closely and pay attention, the 4-step process becomes clear.

We can equate the above four stages to the four stages in which the manifest world operates, that is: 1) Creation, 2) Sustenance, 3) Death and 4) Nothingness. So, for creation to take place, we need to let go of our earlier thoughts. When the previous thought has died, and the next thought is not yet born, there is silence in our mind. A new thought or an idea stirs out from this silence and emerges as the new creation, the new idea!

But, most of the time, we move from one thought to other randomly. We don’t focus on one thought and sustain it for long. But, if we do, we give the thought energy, and the thought grows in strength. When, a thought grows in strength, it starts taking a concrete form. The thought gives shape to a “concrete idea”. If we pursue with the idea further by sustaining the thought, the idea results in an action in our three-dimensional world. This is how we do anything in this world. This is the same for innovation.

But, by just silently watching thoughts come and go, like in meditation, and filtering out thoughts that distract us, or won’t add value to us, we can sharpen our focus on that those thoughts that help us move forward with our idea. The better we get at watching thoughts, the better will be the quality of thoughts that we get to pursue further. So, being in silence, watching & paying attention to things around us, and observing thoughts carefully as they come and go is crucial for innovators to come up with better ideas.

Cutting down the Web of Entanglement and Distractions

It is not easy to have our minds focusing on one thought for long for many of us. We are pulled and pushed in different directions in leading our daily lives. We have various things to cater to in a single day. We have various commitments to keep and various habits, routines, and practices to which we have got accustomed to. As far as focusing our mind is considered, we are far from it. We are caught in a web of entanglements and distractions, like how a fly gets entangled in a spider’s web and finds that it can’t free itself. It tries and tries, but cannot get unstuck. Ultimately, it becomes food to the spider which consumes it. Our lives move like this from day to day, month to month and year to year. Unfortunately, we don’t even realize that we are caught in the web.

All these activities, distractions and entanglements drain out our energy. Moreover, the energy we need to pursue a thought has to move against competing thoughts that demand our attention on a day-to-day basis. This movement of energies, one competing with the other, one moving against the other, results in friction and resistance. First of all, we are endowed with limited energy. We dissipate this energy in endless activities, and loose precious energy in the process. If we have to focus our thoughts on one thing with single-pointed focus, we need lots of energy. If we have very little energy left at the end of the day, or if the energy lacks strength, it just fizzles out and never amounts to anything.

But, if we can remove distractions from our life, and cut down on entanglements, we can minimize the friction and resistance to the smooth flow of single-pointed energy that helps us build up on our idea and take it further.

There is another way too to rid ourselves of friction. Instead of treating daily chores and extraneous jobs as distractions and as things to be avoided, we can treat them as opportunities for innovation. This way, we can reduce or even eliminate the friction or resistance w.r.t. these activities. Then, we can soon emerge with interesting ideas for doing the same chores or jobs better, more productively or more effectively. We don’t have to look elsewhere for problems to solve. Challenges and problems were always present in our daily lives and were waiting to be addressed. Earlier, we were not looking at them. We were not paying attention. Instead, we were avoiding them. But, when we do pay attention and start addressing them, life becomes interesting amidst the grind of everyday activities.

How do we develop Passion?

When we rid ourselves of all distractions, and we get better with watching thoughts come and go, and the quality of our thoughts get better progressively, we reach a stage when our mind reaches single-pointed focus. Then, we are immersing ourselves entirely in that single thought or idea. Nothing else matters anymore. We are giving our entire energy to this one thought and it becomes all encompassing. There is no more resistance. Then the thought means everything to us. It consumes us entirely. This is what passion is. When you have deep passion, friction and resistance stops altogether, and the energy moves smoothly, in a flow, and it gets transformed. The energy becomes highly creative, and you start flowing in life. Everything happens to you, without major effort on your part!

Micro Innovation is driven by Passion

While macro-innovations are driven by external needs such as a market or customer need, micro-innovations are driven by passion. A micro-innovator is not someone who will not accept the status quo. A micro-innovator does not necessarily worry about the problems of the world to start with. However, a micro-innovator has a keen personal interest in improving things, making life simpler, better, liveable - however small the change may be, especially ones that affects his/her daily life. He is driven by passion. He starts with a burning personal need or a challenge and pours all his energy into his passion and comes up with an innovation.

Over time, some micro-innovations may graduate into macro-innovations and other people may start using it. Some of them can even grow big and have a transformative effect on the society.

Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad or the iPod were not novel innovations when they appeared in the market. Several hand-held MP3 music players were already in the market before iPod. Nokia, Motorola and Samsung were market leaders in the mobile phones business. Hand-held tablet PCs were already being used by businesses. Designed with deep passion by Steve Jobs, these Apple products had a transformative effect on the people who bought them. They completely changed the experience of how a user uses a hand-held music player, a mobile phone or the tablet PC.

Micro-Innovations can have a Transformative Impact

Not all micro-innovations can become macro-innovations or transformative in nature. But, innovating does one thing for sure. Innovating on a daily basis gets our creatives juices flowing. The innovator is in a state of “flow”. Things start happening to him as if by magic. New ideas come to him easily and make him feel alive! And, his passion gets infused into his ideas. Whatever he does in that state seem magical. The magic gets transferred to his innovation, and when someone uses his innovation, they experience that magic, that passionate energy with which the innovator built his innovation. There is a transformative effect operating here.

The passion with which Steve Jobs came up with those amazing Apple products rubbed off on its users to such an extent that they seem transformative in nature. Apple products touch people at their very core, somewhat mysteriously. People are magically attracted to Apple’s products – whether they are for their looks, beauty, finesse, user experience, quality, or for something else. That is also the reason why we see many people standing in queue in front of Apple stores in the middle of the night to buy a newly released Apple product!

While creativity is at the core of our living, passion drives what we share and experience with each other in everyday life.

Innovating can prove Transcendental for the Innovator

Lastly, innovating as a way of life will bring joy and happiness to the innovator. Through it, you discover your true purpose and calling in life. You will be able to serve others through your innovations. You will be able to connect with other human beings and express your love for humanity through your innovations. Through innovation, you transcend your limitations, express yourself creatively, and emerge a better You!