Killer Innovations

We are a race of innovators – born to create. Children are naturally superb innovators. They can create the most amazing toys from normal household items. Who would have thought of all the uses for a paper towel role? Even as we grow older, we admire bold thinking. Revolution is chic. Trendsetters are idolized. It is demeaning to be called unoriginal, conventional or traditional. We thrill at the idea of being the one that breaks the rule, being the one that creates the next big thing.

Somehow in the process of growing up, many of us have lost that ability to see ourselves as creative. We all have rules – ingrained patterns of thinking – that we mistake for truth. It is these mistaken assumptions, half-truths, misplaced generalities and habits that keep us from creating truly brilliant ideas.

The fact is that what we “know” is a greater obstacle than what we don’t know. But clearing our minds of prejudice is as difficult as pushing all of the air out of a room. Minds, like nature, cannot sustain a vacuum. Something must displace those old rules.

What is it that holds most people back from breaking out from our “old think”? People worry about creating a stupid idea, so they develop concepts using old thinking that sounds sensible – sounds safe – that has an outcome that is most likely an incremental improvement or worst, a failure. To create a killer idea you need to drop your prejudice of what “sounds right” and create truly new ideas – ideas that will most likely sound absolutely stupid.