Innovation starts within.
Innovation essentially comes down to you being able to see yourself in a new light.
As the demand for our ability to innovate increases in all matters of life, we will experience a shortage of unique solutions that actually change things.
The reason is that too many of us are still governed by an old-school industrial mindset, which has standardized our thinking.
To put simply, we have been brought up and educated to fit into a mechanical approach to life where we behave as mice in a treadmill.
Our societal infrastructure worldwide is designed according to this philosophy, and it has worked wonders for building the industrial world with all its might.
However, it has also created most of the issues we are now facing, and as Albert Einstein famously said, we cannot solve a problem on the basis of the premises that created it. We need new premises.
Two-dimensional
This is where the magic word “innovation” comes into play.
Ask any politician, business leader, or expert, and they will say that innovation is the way forward because it allows us to rethink how we do things.
Although the statement itself is correct, it's also two-dimensional. It lacks depth because it doesn't put the craft of innovation into context.
Innovation doesn't come by itself. It's a choice, and the prerequisite is you. Not a clever model, a guru, or an algorithm. There is no magic framework out there that can just make you super-innovative overnight.
At the end of the day, innovation comes down to you and your ability to see things in a new light, but to do that, you first have to see yourself in a new light.
Otherwise, how will you ever be able to see the context you operate in like that?
Challenge your perception
In other words, you must embark on a journey of self-discovery to challenge your perception of yourself, before you can bring unique solutions to the table.
The process looks like this,
Not only does it make you a better innovator, it also makes you a person with a better understanding of the world and your role in it.
So, ask yourself, how can you see yourself from a totally new perspective? Then, let your innovation start there.