Life Dynamics

Exploring the New

Why this tactic matters
When life is going well it is easy to assume that this is the best it can get and that your current tactics are fully effective. But life rarely stands still. It throws up novel challenges which can quickly undermine your current position. Exploring the New is that tactic which may keep you ahead of the “game of life”. It is the curiousity about wider trends and developments and the willingness to embrace fresh ideas which ensures that you are prepared to tackle tomorrow’s challenges

Sceptical of new ideas, preferring to fall back on current knowledge and expertise		A curiousity that is always on the look out for ideas to investigate trends and identify new possibilities

If it ain’t broke then fix it You can’t stand still Don’t be surprised that you are surprised Spot trends before they become life hazards Recognise the “tipping points” of life Say “yes” instead of “no” Don’t overplay the role of devil’s advocate Make small changes in your life routines Don’t keep washing in the same bathwater If you don’t know the solution then ask someone who does Cultivate contacts with progressive thinkers Build your own “think tank” Keep an ideas pad See problems through someone else’s eyes Be teachable Meet five new people every year		Effectiveness = Creativity x Order Embark on “finitiatives” and stop new projects The fallacy of the “great idea Murphy’s Law applies There is no short cut to creativity Stand on the shoulders of giants Break the rules Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast Try a lot of stuff and see what works Don’t let boredom be your key driver Listen to wise counsel Most innovation comes from unexpected success and failure Switch off from “learning” Conformity is hard-wired into human nature Implement change but anticipate resistance Differentiate to reinvent yourself Prioritise ideas to focus on those with the most potential Don’t let distractions divert you Get out of the backroom Timing is everything Turn down career opportunities >

Edison, Electricity and Creativity
The story of Thomas Alva Edison, the genius inventor of the electrical age, has been told many times and with varying degrees of biographical accuracy. Patenting more than a thousand inventions (e.g. the microphone, phonograph, incandescent light bulb), he laid the groundwork for most of the technological innovations of the 20th century. The story of Edison and his extraordinary creative output is the story of hard work (he slept only four hours a night); wide ranging life experience (he had worked as a butcher, salesman, editor, telegraph operator); dogged persistence (“genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”); and business ruthlessness (his PR stunts demolished his rival, Nikola Tesla). But perhaps his greatest creation was the establishment of the “invention factory” at Menlo Park, New Jersey, the research and development centre staffed with brilliant scientists and technicians organised around the mass production of innovation.

Creativity is not the flash of originality from “out of the blue”. In Edison’s case, sustained innovation was the outcome of an enterprise, an enterprise based on his own personal curiousity and work ethic but also an understanding of the need to coordinate the efforts of others towards a business purpose.

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