• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
CREATING 
20 
 
SMART PEOPLE 
     C     R     E     A     T     I     N     G
Innovators got to innovate
By Victor NewmanYears ago, in the early ‘90s, Iremember watching a videoof a Tom Peters’ sweat andrant guru session, where he
wandered about a floor of 
anxious senior managersclustered around circulartables – anxious because hemight ask them a questionthat might expose their
unfitness to manage their
organizations, and senior because only a seniormanager could justify the costof the ticket.Peters’ style was to ask rhetorical questions in aquiet voice, answer themhimself in a loud, scornfulvoice, and then cascade hisaudience with informationabout successful companiesand entrepreneurs scavenged by his army of researchers,
who happened to fit his latest
theme.His guru topic this timewas innovation and hesaid somethingprofound (fora change)and unexpected, to the effectthat the real innovators in the business world were not inthe room this day. That thereal innovators are out thereinnovating, because they haveto do it. They cannot choose todo it, they have to do it. It’s intheir nature.The connected topics of innovation and leadership,are a bit like pornographyin the sense that those whoconsume it the most are justnot constitutionally equippedto perform the acts describedin the literature. But they lovereading about the stuff theycan’t and won’t do. Which isthe point Peters was making.Innovators don’t takelessons, they may not evenread books, they just do it, anddo it again, until the timing of their idea coincides with thetiming of the market and theircustomers, and they makesome money, or they fail. Andthere is a lot of luck involved, but it is a luck that is backed by persistence and perhaps akind of ‘autism’.It is this kind autismthat is so valuable. Arecent RoyalSociety of Artspublicationsuggestedthat there isa link (if only by analogy) betweensuccessfulentrepreneursand ADHD(Attention
Deficiency and
HyperactivityDisorder).Governments aroundthe world are attemptingto develop entrepreneursthrough their educationsystems, yet so manysuccessful entrepreneurs haveunderachieved when it comesto education, and maybe that’sthe point.At the same time, peoplewith ADHD display many of the behavioral characteristicstraditionally associated withthe entrepreneur.This is not to say thatsuccessful entrepreneurs areautistic, but it is likely thattheir attention is not drawn torepetitive, traditional thinkingthat is reinforced within aconventional education thatpunishes or excludes heresies.So it could be the casethat real entrepreneurs willinnovate whether you likeit or not. And maybe the best thing to do is to eitherget out of their way, make iteasier for them to get on withtheir job, or have a different
kind of education that fits
the psychology of thosewith the potential to becomeentrepreneurs as opposedto those who are good ateducation.The problem witheducating for innovation isthat it creates the illusion thatanyone can do it, that thereis a formula that anyone canconsume and succeed. Theprovision of this innovationeducation for entrepreneurscreates an illusion of success,a kind of cargo-cult of innovation reinforced bygovernment box-tickinginitiatives.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...