Each of the challenges
listed must be met with one or more
remedies. These principle-based solutions
are what we call the Nine Lives of
Innovation because they have the power to
support innovation by overcoming the
challenges that are always present. In other
words, these remedies can help innovation
come alive in a world naturally full of
challenges. Each of the Nine Lives is listed
below and briefly described. These lives are
then developed in detail in the text:
-
Quiet Mind – There is
a constant conversation going on in most
minds that must be quieted in order to
find the space for innovation.
-
Preparation –
Innovation favors a prepared mind. The
way you organize your experience in the
warehouses of your long-term memory can
serve you well when it comes time to
innovate.
-
Understanding Normal
– One way to counter the effects of
being normal is to understand how and
why we humans have evolved the way we
have. There is a reason for the creation
called human.
-
Real Provocation – To
escape from the clutches of what is
normal we can provoke ourselves with
scenarios, objects, real world
observations and stimulation from guided
interaction with others.
-
Imaginary Provocation
- To escape the containing power the
norm we can stimulate our thinking with
mental assaults and imaginary
challenges.
-
Fascinating! – A
great way to meet failure is with
whimsy. “I invested in a start-up and
lost everything. How fascinating! What
can I learn from this?”
-
Quick Prototyping –
Fail early and fail well in order to
succeed at innovation.
-
Managing Change – All
innovation is change. Need I say more.
-
Herding Cats – The
job of the CAT Wrangler is to herd cats
through a labyrinth called change. We
can learn a great deal from great
innovators like Thomas Edison who were
masters at wrangling cats and managing
change.
