The Magic of What Could Be
BusinessWeek authors Roger L. Martin and Jennifer Riel discuss “Innovation’s Accidental Enemies” in the January 14th issue. They say that leaders often demand proof that a new idea will work, thereby squashing innovation.
"Invention, my dear friends..."
Deductive and inductive reasoning are mainstream, leader-approved ways of brainstorming. With deduction, we utilize existing rules. When we use induction, we fashion a new rule from existing data. These standards, Martin and Riel point out, both use real-world, already-proven info to analyze potential ideas. “But for breakthroughs, there is no rule or pool of past data to provide certainty.” Fear of the unknown takes the lead and hampers creative juices and shuts down intoxicating what-if scenarios. (And if something failed in the past, that can nix any possibility for a second chance, even if the factors that led to its initial demise have reversed.)
The mentality of requiring hard evidence of past successes (for future ones) isn’t only a corporate problem; idea-busters tangle up personal endeavors too. If we get too wild, we may end up looking or feeling like an idiot, right? Yet, and here’s the painful truth: When we settle for what provides a modicum of safety on paper, sometimes we miss out on the magic that’s just beyond the margin.
To prevent security trumping innovation, the authors offer us a third option: abductive logic, aka “the logic of what could be.” They write, “To use abduction, we need to creatively assemble the disparate experiences and bits of data that seem relevant in order to make an inference—a logical leap—to the best possible conclusion.” This is a leap beyond standard “calculated risks.” Such magical could-be thinking allows more leeway in the boardroom—and at your kitchen table talking with family or friends about life matters.
And the outcome? “Asking what could be true—and jumping into the unknown—is critical to innovation. Nurturing the ideas that result, rather than killing them, can be the tricky part.” Leaping into foreign territory doesn’t mean we have to live there, or even stay overnight. Merely sitting down for an unrushed visit amid the wild and remote areas of our thoughts can produce amazing discoveries.
Are fears holding you back from trekking deeper into the unknown? Throw out your well-worn cranial processes, hitch your current thoughts to the logic of what could be…and see where your mind takes you. The destination might prove magical, maybe even miraculous. And to those of you who require things to add up neatly, percolate on this gem from Willy Wonka: “Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.”
This is the battle for me. Right now. Right here. Where God’s whispers wash over my expectations. I could settle. Or I could stretch. But if God has spoken, shouldn’t I join him?
How can I know?
Only by taking the leap of faith.
I like what you say about setting for something safe on paper but missing the magic that’s off the margin. I read what you write and I believe it but I’m still trapped by a lot of things that I can’t figure out how to change like getting a good paying job and having enough money and time to really travel to anywhere wild in my mind!!
Cassandra, oh yes, if God has spoken, then we can join and know we’re definitely on the right path. But that’s so good to include “whisper”; so often it isn’t with 100% clarity that we forge ahead. Faith is absolutely part of the process and journey.
Ruth, once we add grown-up responsibilities to our plate (marriage, family, work/life duties) — and all the bills come in our name! — it is not nearly as easy to point and pick a path and/or get on a different trail. It may include pain. It may include loss. It may take an enormous amount of time to get from Point A to B (like my current pursuit of a master’s degree: if I’d finished it directly after my undergrad degree, it would’ve taken a year; now it’s going to take me about five years). But I do know that it’s possible. I’d argue it’s almost always possible to some degree (realizing that some entrapments, some limitations, some hardships are tougher to free ourselves from than others). We need to remember, however, that as long as we’re walking the earth, it isn’t too late to set our feet in a new direction.
Oh, my, this one hurts my heart because it hit it squarely! I can very much relate to what others have already said. It is a STRUGGLE, at least once you’re past college age (or is this just my own path?!?!?!). Being an adult adds layers of responsibilities and you can not act only for yourself when you have others (spouse, children, parents) who are under your care. But Emily-Sarah I believe you are on to something when you talk of being able to pursue X to some degree. Maybe this is what trips me up, especially because I am later in life and time is more precious AND more limited because I have spent more of it already. And so the thought of “getting there” taking two or three or more times as long is awful! I can’t handle it! So because of this I allow my belief and my mindset to stop those thoughts…and then a year from now I will be in the same place!
Yes, Barbara, I know what you’re saying about being, well, let’s just say out of our twenties (that’ll work, right?!) and feeling the impact of time more and how that makes it even tougher to want to invest MORE time into something that would’ve been a snap in comparison if only we’d done it before _______ (and we can put a lot of things in the blank: getting married or having children or buying a house or turning a certain age or whatever).
I read something that was helpful for me — I don’t remember the source or the details, but the gist is the person was saying that she realized on the cusp of her 40th birthday that she could go back to school and be 40 or she could stay at home and be 40, but the year (and her age) would come and go regardless. While there are some things that ARE dependent on an age — both younger and older — many things we CAN begin, whatever our age.
As with my master’s degree example, I know intimately how doing something at a part-time pace slows the process. Sometimes this frustrates me, but more often I find myself enjoying the process instead of wanting to zip through to “the end.” After all, part of why I want to further my education is to expand my mind, learn more good stuff … and that goes so far beyond whizzing through the program to be finished, hanging my degree on the wall.