So you wanna be an innovator?

The idea of being an innovator may sound very nice or appealing, but what does it really take to be an innovator and how do we know if we are on the right track?

One way of testing whether or not your ideas are truly penetrating is to, obviously share them with others. Some people will probably find them 'interesting', some will become converts almost immediately, but the real test is whether or not your ideas seem to cause offence among the 'business as usual' thinkers that carry on their lives as if the answer to everything is obvious and plain common sense! You'll know if you are onto something interesting when these types not only oppose your ideas, but seem to take them as personal affronts. In time, you'll come to recognise the peculiar quality of this type of resistance because it has a particularly nasty undertone. When you first start to innovate freely and experience this phenomenon, you may find it disturbing and want to retreat or even feel as if you should apologise. You may even decide that innovation is simply too much grief and go back to doing things 'their' way or continue your work in secret. On the other hand, if you persist, you'll come to understand that such reactions are a sure sign that you've hit on something meaningful and that they are just part of the package. I'm not talking here about trying to offend people by making gratuitously extreme statements.I mean that when you start asking certain questions about how things are done, and why they are done this way, you will see how threatened some people apparently feel by the implications of your sincere desire to push forward into new territory. The solution? Just understand, and appreciate what you're getting yourself into.

The Prosperity Mindset

    An American author and speaker by the name of Randy Gage is a specialist on the subject of prosperity and the prosperity mindset. His compelling claim is that prosperity is a state of mind that goes beyond how you see issues relating to wealth and money. In his definition, prosperity is a lifestyle and concerns your health and diet, exercise, friends and associates, beliefs, activities, habits etc etc.

   We all want to prosper, but according to Randy Gage, most of us have thought patterns, or 'mind-viruses' that prevent or obstruct us from doing so. These can manifest in many different ways. For example, there's the 'victim mentality' where we see ourselves as forlorn but heroic individuals struggling against the big corporation, our employer, the politicians etc. Another damaging idea that many people hold is 'the entitlement mentality' where we affirm our right to a free education, healthcare, public services etc without necessarily giving back very much to society. Another idea that is perhaps more controversial is the question of who gets to benefit from our ability to add value and solve problems in society. Randy Gage's libertarian point of view is that we are entitled to receive in proportion to the value we create in society, an idea which is antithetical, for example to socialism where the spoils of enterprise and innovation are forcibly redistributed.

Have you ever felt resentment towards that big, pinstripe suited guy gliding past behind the wheel of his Rolls Royce while you stand at the curb waiting to cross the road in the rain? If the answer is 'Yes' even for a split second, then you are infected with limiting and anti-prosperity memes, or thought patterns. You might not go so far as to run your key down the side of his vehicle when you see it parked, but you are only two or three steps removed from this point of view. You might catch yourself thinking, for example something cynical that suggests the rich guy must have done something dishonest to get where he is today.Behind such thoughts lurk anti-prosperity patterns that can sabotage your ability to create prosperity in your life.

A person's ability to be wealthy, according to the prosperity mindset, depends not on their background, education, work ethic or ability to save but on their values and relationship with principles of prosperity. Thus, a person born into a rich family will not remain so if they acquire anti-prosperity patterns as they grow up. The fact that most children of wealthy people remain wealthy is due to their inheritance of a prosperity mindset and growing up in a an environment where prosperity is a fact of life. For these people, there is often no need to adjust their patterns. But for most of us, there is work to be done in analyzing truthfully and courageously our REAL relationship with prosperity, asking where our ideas came from and whether or not they support us in having a shot of living happy and complete lives.

If you're interested in finding our more about the prosperity mindset, a recommended book is Randy Gage's "Why You're Poor Sick Dumb and Broke and How to get Healthy, Wealthy and Wise."

What is it about management speak ?

Most of us have our pet-cringes when it comes to management speak. The ones that really get to me personally are ring-fenced and skill set. The second of these in particular is enough to make me break off a potential working relationship with anyone that uses it. But what is it exactly about this type of language that can be so grating? Is it that there's something very bland about the thinking behind the terminology? Something so very uninspiring? Is it the pall of standardization that hangs around these terms like a shroud around the hope we all had for a lively, fulfilling career? Do we accept that work is basically an onerous but necessary chore that has to be got out of the way before we can have fun? Maybe it's that these 'management' terms somehow remind us of this troubling question.
Language has the potential to inspire us, to describe possibilities that don't yet exist. Such language can be called 'declarative' as it declares into existence something that comes from the power of human vision and imagination. When language fails to do this and falls into the 'business as usual' pattern of describing procedures, it loses its potential and becomes deadening, sapping our enthusiasm and energy. Perhaps this is the echo that reverberates through a lot of management speak, and which so many people find annoying?

One thing that turns people off about politicians...

Listening to 'experts' and politicians defending their positions on Radio 4's Today program is a case study in what good communication isn't. These professional opinion makers have chugged along into the studio to toe the party line or defend their viewpoint or in some cases justify their jobs. The format is usually two parties of opposing views in the studio, so we may get say, a eurosceptic UKIP member versus a euro-apologist of one stripe or another going head-to-head, neither of which has any intention of actually listening to the other side.

This is the prevalent pattern of what is called 'discussion' or debate in the media and we see it everywhere. Someone has a position to defend that they identify with. The exchanges soon deteriorate into prepared arguments, both sides come out of it sounding boorish, arrogant, blinkered and pushy.The public shake their heads and say they can't trust politicians.

What would it actually be like, for example if on one of these media debates, they actually listened to each other and considered changing their minds? Unlikely to happen of course, because in most cases their jobs depend on taking up a particular position. Is this a kind of corruption?