The Age of Innovation
Innovation has been the key distinguishing factor behind the pivotal influencers our society has deemed most successful. These people have cultivated true development and assisted the overall evolution of mankind. Pioneers including Albert Einstein, Shakespeare, Aristotle, Alexander Graham Bell, Bill Gates, and many more have been deemed innovators. Creating a new method, idea, or product that has yet to be brought into the world. However, innovation today has become a buzzword for businesses. Companies are seeking “innovation” however, given the wealth of knowledge that has already been put out into the world, true innovation is being accomplished less and less. There are countless ideologies and philosophies that have been previously conveyed however continue to be redistributed today. One will find a common thread through most content, related to people oriented fields such as management, philosophy, self-actualization, and business. These basic human principles and ideologies have been relayed hundreds of years and yet we still tend to somehow see them as new. Ideas that have existed for centuries yet humanity is still unable to retain or implement them appropriately.
Society today yearns for innovation however is unable to see the shifts in its definition. Upon being exposed to this need, one becomes increasingly discouraged. True innovation, originality, and uniqueness are unbelievably difficult to execute. It is easy to feel small and insignificant when so much has already been expressed and distributed. One may think they just experienced a moment of profound genius however that exact thought occurred hundreds of years ago in the minds of hundreds of thousands of people. Innovation, while enticing, is unbelievably challenging in the literal sense of the definition. Creating something “new” has proved to be one of the most trying tasks to accomplish.
So how do we still produce incredible leaders and innovators today? The thing we need to realize is that the core influencers that have been deemed as innovators today, have not created something new at all. We as a society have strayed away from the strict definition due to the influx of information already in our world. These innovators however have mastered a particular skill. They are extremely well versed in their craft and are able to appropriately develop a strategy in which to convey their message to their prospective audience. They formulate these ideas with case studies, narrative, personal experience, definitions, and anecdotes and proceed to distribute their thoughts through suitable mediums. Innovation has shifted. Innovation has come to be classified as one who has perfected the art of communicating his message. He has defined its core and now needs to figure out how best to communicate those fundamentals to the masses. Steve Jobs, brilliant as he was, would never have been successful if he was not able to effectively communicate why his product mattered. As “innovative” as he may have been spearheading the technology epidemic, he needed to create a reason why this would resonate with his target market. One may be the most brilliant individual in the entire world however if they are unable to relay why the information is important their brilliance is obsolete. It does not exist. As David Brooks stated in his 2011 New York Times article “Where are the Jobs”, “The roots of great innovation are never just in the technology itself. They are always in the wider historical context. They require new ways of seeing. As Einstein put it, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Innovation is no longer about creating the new, but rather cultivating an alternative perspective to share with others.
Humanity is built off of human interaction and we are able to live through the connections we make with other people. Innovation is not singular. It is a product of collaborative minds working together to create something people will understand and will cultivate meaning from. Deep down that is what everyone longs for, a deeper meaning. When someone is able to do that for someone else and is able to compile specific details on why it works, how it works, and why it matters if it works is true innovation. No one idea can truly be deemed unique. We as a society, while possessing entirely different genomes, cater to the same physical and psychological needs. Maslow’s hierarchy being that of physiological, security, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. We are people of instinct and act intensely off of that. True innovation is the product of properly communicating ideas that people will understand, retain, and react. This leads to success and will mold the thought leaders that will spearhead the advancement of our society. Innovation does not revolve around new ideas but new perspectives to put a compilation of ideas together in order for people to respond. This will continue to define the true innovators of today.
