March
2004
Innovation Tips
...for
thriving on collaborative innovation.
=========================================
Trust the
Undercurrent of Change
Innovation awaits us all, and
it is frightening. We are beckoned, in our personal lives and in our organizations,
to move on through the next open door, to make that quantum leap to the next
level of new possibilities, but the leap always seems treacherous.
If we only knew how truly
safe it is. Change is the natural order of life itself. In this universe, we will
be strangers in a stranger land if we cannot adapt to change.
We are swept, in our
organizations and our lives, by an undercurrent of purpose toward the next,
more fulfilling way of life. We create trouble for ourselves when we get bound
up in resistance and control—avoiding the newer and more fulfilling only
because it is unfamiliar.
Resisting that undercurrent
is like a swimmer fighting the strong current of a river just to stay in one
place: It actually takes more energy for him to stay put than to swim with the
natural flow of the river.
The flow of perpetual
innovation can actually be more restful and is virtually always more energizing
than staying put. Every organization, every individual is challenged to respond
to changing conditions. Those that refuse to change can grind themselves down
with useless anxiety and misspent energy as they cling to the status quo.
Unless we are willing to
disown that which is no longer serviceable, we cannot freely take ownership of
the enthralling future that awaits us. To the degree that fear or attachment to
"turf" keep us bound up in anxiety over change, we deprive ourselves of the
heightened vitality ahead.
And when we finally arrive,
after that long strenuous struggle of resistance, kicking and screaming into
our intended destiny, we wonder what all the fuss was about.
The bold and audacious
experience of anticipating the next possibility, the next open door, the next
quantum leap to more fulfilling possibilities is where life is lived in the
very sinew of the soul. In our organizations and in our personal lives, we must
learn to trust the undercurrents of change, for that change is much safer than
we know.
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INNOVATION
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