Innovation - nice article - read thru
Sharad Puranik
"Of late, there is a lot of buzz around the concept of innovation. And if we have to state a very fundamental fact – it would be that innovation stems from creativity, and creativity has linkage to a childlike state of innocence. Many of us lose that state of innocence as we grow up. There is a certain pressure to grow out of childhood and in a sense, we are encouraged to outgrow our innocence along with it. But in creative people, in people who innovate with great ideas and expressions, the child has never been abandoned, never left behind.
Children are perpetually asking questions. As adults, we are awkward with questions. We link the act of asking questions to ignorance. It indicates that we do not know; hence we may look stupid when asking questions.
Children have no shame, whereas adults suffer from layers and layers of shame. Because children have no shame, they are more capable of failing at something and moving on from it. Our sense of shame makes us inhibited. So we do not try new things at work.
Children fantasize. Adults feel that fantasy is strange. As a result, they curb their imagination. Less they fantasize; less becomes their ability to visualize things. Visual thinking is very important to any creative process.
Children do not always work in an "outcome-based" manner. Consequently they are always exploring possibilities and discovering things. Adults focus mostly on outcomes. As a result, they rule out infinite nature of possibilities by seeking only a specific set of things.
Children derive happiness from very small things; adults seek only that kind of happiness which comes in super size packaging. As a result, adult life is largely monotonous with just the occasional spikes of joy. The short supply of it, takes away the potential of positive reinforcement that a child is flooded with, each time a small happiness in experienced.
The contrast is so complete that they seem to have come from different worlds"
Is it not time that we got back in touch with the child in us?
--
Shapu
.....kadhi kadhi andharat swatahalach shodhato me.......