the
innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.
Vol.
5, No. 11, November 2005
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An Ear
for Innovation
By Jeff Govendo
You
may remember the T.V. commercial – I think it was late 80’s
or early 90’s – that showed a harried secretary scurrying
around with a telephone receiver apparently bonded to her ear. Dangling
like some grossly oversized piece of costume jewelry, the ad made
its point through the absurdness of its imagery: considering how
much time we spend on the phone, we might as well just sew or glue
it to our heads.
But
of course nobody really has a permanently attached phone!
Or
so we thought. Here we are in 2005, and some of us – in our
cars, boarding planes, food shopping, walking the dog – doing
just about anything anywhere, have phones attached to our ears! You’ve
seen them, with the bright blue flashing light and the skinny mouthpiece
wending its way halfway around the cheek (coming nowhere near the
mouth – I still don’t get how that works), clipped onto
the earlobe where it remains for hours at a time (no gluing or sewing…yet).
If you’re observing a guy from the opposite profile having a
conversation on one of these, you’re apt to think he has an “imaginary
friend.”
But
this piece isn’t the usual essay about whether devices that enable
us to take our work wherever we go, do or do not represent progress.
We all have our opinions on that. What interests me in this context
is the absurdity of that T.V. commercial and its relationship –
intended or not – to a later product that some, anyway, would
consider a very useful piece of technology.
Many
of our most important innovations began with seemingly outlandish
notions and images. Consider, for example, the very first time
someone posed the idea of injecting weakened germ cells into a patient
in order to prevent a disease! Or fitting the great works of literature
on a razor-thin wafer the size of a baby’s toenail. Or, as they’re
working on now, running a vehicle on fuel that doesn’t burn anything
or produce any pollutants whatsoever. None of these is laughable
or easily dismissed now, but you can bet they were the very first
time they were brought up.
There
is power in the “far out” idea, expressed in vivid language
or colorful imagery. Not only for the idea itself, but in its
ability to cause other people, listening open-mindedly, to build on
it and make new connections. Interesting ideas encourage interesting
thinking.
Too
often, though, when attempting to deal with a tough problem, we ignore
or dismiss these in favor of the obvious, the sensible and the easily
demonstrable. We gravitate toward those ideas that don’t disturb
our sense of order and reason – or of those around us.
And
those who might be inclined to draw upon their imagination for more
creative ideas – irrespective of what seems “logical”
– are dismissed too, as oddballs or dreamers better suited to
the arts, perhaps, than the “real” world of science or business.
You know… folks like Einstein, Jenner and Steve Jobs.
So,
for those who recognize the value of innovation in business, it’s
important to remember that an idea, no matter how farfetched or absurd
it may sound (or look, if seen in a T.V. ad) is just an idea. It doesn’t
have to be acted upon, and therefore needn’t be summarily dismissed
if at first it doesn’t make sense. Far from it, in fact; its
very strangeness should be a signal to listen more closely for the
new possibilities it presents.
Maybe
through that phone attached to your ear.
