I’ve read that innovation is slowing, that we’ve invented most of the big things. From here on in the inventions will merely be refinements of existing knowledge or technologies.
I was interested recently to come across the term “Imaginaut”. Regular readers will know of my interest in space exploration and so I guess the word had an immediate appeal. I went to do some research and it seems to be a handful of people who see themselves as exploring the human mind. This only increased my interest – working as a coach I spend an awful lot of time helping people explore their minds, their values and their beliefs.
One of the reasons I enjoy the interconnected world of social media is the exposure to a dizzying breadth of ideas. I try to read outside what I know or instinctively cleave to. It has never been easier to explore new ideas, to be a true imaginaut and yet we persist in benchmarking, best practice and homogenised thinking.
It struck me that most organisations don’t tend to look too closely in to their “field mind”, the industrial memory of their company. Leaving that sort of “fluffy” stuff to HR, L&D and external practitioners such as myself. Which strikes me as a real opportunity missed. I’m sure we’ve all read the story about how post it notes came about because 3M encouraged their staff to tinker around with new ideas outside their day job.
My call to action is a simple one. Where could you, or your organisation be thinking differently – where could you use your imagination?
(Illustration by the excellent Simon Heath)