Bill White's quote is in relationship to a guy who emptied over 50,000 beer cans for his display. It's only innovative if he didn't drink them, otherwise it's macho, and macho operates at a totally different level of being than that which is mere craziness......M.
I think we need to consider the quote outside of its context. It is a much larger idea, and will always challenge the human comforts of predictability.
Martin I did think about considering this quote outside of its context, but I came to the decision that I would rather use humour and serve that humour back to the "alcohol" and party animals. A real innovator is not often welcome by those who fear change, and to stick labels like crazy to define people who use their brains only serves to retain an unnecessary stereotype and yet we have a good hee-hee-hee and "piss-up" about those who abuse their bodies and love to talk up their getting pissed stereotype. So in the case of Tim's comment, if Tim drinks to get drunk then he is Macho, but if Tim drinks because he enjoys both drinking and thinking - then how can he possibly be macho? Then of course there was Ernest Hemingway, but the future shouldn't be about tragic hero's today, or any kind of hero-worship for that matter. IMHO the future is about each of us becoming innovators and that means the discovery of our own individual flow and how that combines to create a smarter world. What drives us to drink senselessly is through the image both by those who think they own our mind and trying to live a life that has no bearing on the kind of reality innovators create. So what could be more inside this context Martin, then the reclamation of that mind. It starts with taking quotes like this and taking them back to their origin point, those who want a good hee-ha feed them with their own medicine but lets start better appreciating the ingenuity of all and not just the mythological worship of innovation as something that is outside our own being......M.
Innovation is an ACTION that mildly or wildly disrupts conventional thinking ,habits, and ways of being in the world.
When people act in disruptive ways, develop habits that buck conventions, and sustain unusual ways of being in the world then they often become innovative. The interesting thing is the INNOVATION itself is often accepted and adopted quickly by the masses. Meanwhile the process by which it was developed - and the person or people who developed it - are deemed to be a little bit crazy. Crazy is as crazy does and so I guess those who do actually INNOVATE things will continue to be seen as a little bit crazy.
I say let's go hang with those crazy people - we will have more fun and who knows we might just become INNOVATORS!
Taking the lead in doing something truly innovative has it's calculated risks, and yes, there are always the naysayers who even go as far as calling the innovative leaders crazy. But it is the innovative leaders and risk takers who pave the way for the future. Innovative leaders have been around for centuries and funny enough, some of them were considered crazy too. Henry Ford mass produced cars before there were paved roads and Tim Berners-Lee with the world wide web before the majority of people had personal computers. Both men had visions of what could be and eventually was by leading the way through their innovations. Crazy? not at all. Admirable? Most Definitely!
Eric while some intellectuals abhor some of the personal beliefs of Henry Ford, I have looked at his book "Today and Tomorrow" and found it pretty enlightening. His book really does bring the best thinking of Henry Ford forth, which for the most part is highly practical - and the fact that he has turned some of this practical thinking into real world transformation, makes that innovative. I think Maasaki Omai has some pertinent observations about the western leaders cerebral preoccupation or obsession with "all things innovation", which is one thing Henry Ford did not exhibit, for he simply made things flow and happen - which is what innovation should be......M.
Context or no context, White is absolutely correct. Folks who are innovative (creative) tend to not walk the traditional line; they think and behave differently from what is perceived as the norm. Einstein? Picasso? Martha Graham? Bill Gates? Google? Apple?
CNN can be considered to be innovators in news media. Yet to a large degree CNN (the Cable News Network) behaves like the Childlike Numbing Network. In other words an innovation does necessarily mean that what is being served up to the wider audience is going to be necessarily a good thing. Likewise in a smart society there is no reason why innovation does not become the norm and this means that it does not matter who is right or who is wrong, but simply what serves us to lead us down a smarter road, in the case of CNN they actually do present some smart programming, but why do people follow the norm, other than most have been taught to follow the norm. I guess my last word on this subject should come from Henry Ford, the book I mentioned earlier, the Henry Ford quote is [THERE ARE ALWAYS TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD - THOSE WHO PIONEER AND THOSE WHO PLOD. THE PLODDERS ALWAYS ATTACK THE PIONEERS. THEY SAY THAT THE PIONEERS HAVE GOBBLED UP ALL THE OPPORTUNITY, WHEN, AS A PLAIN MATTER OF FACT, THE PLODDERS WOULD HAVE NO WHERE TO PLOD HAD N0T THE PIONEERS FIRST CLEARED THE WAY".] Now imagine what our society may one day be like if universal education instructed our educational establishments that developing innovative mindsets should be the norm and not a social exception, then what will this new found quality of pioneering do to any nation that so fostered such a norm?......M.
Comments | 9 Total
March 22, 2008 at 7:09pm by Mark Zorro
Bill White's quote is in relationship to a guy who emptied over 50,000 beer cans for his display. It's only innovative if he didn't drink them, otherwise it's macho, and macho operates at a totally different level of being than that which is mere craziness......M.
March 22, 2008 at 8:13pm by Martin Kovach
I think we need to consider the quote outside of its context. It is a much larger idea, and will always challenge the human comforts of predictability.
March 22, 2008 at 10:45pm by Tim Tymchyshyn
well by reading the first two comments to this statement make me wonder if I am macho because I like to drink and I am far from predictable
March 23, 2008 at 3:47am by Mark Zorro
Martin I did think about considering this quote outside of its context, but I came to the decision that I would rather use humour and serve that humour back to the "alcohol" and party animals. A real innovator is not often welcome by those who fear change, and to stick labels like crazy to define people who use their brains only serves to retain an unnecessary stereotype and yet we have a good hee-hee-hee and "piss-up" about those who abuse their bodies and love to talk up their getting pissed stereotype. So in the case of Tim's comment, if Tim drinks to get drunk then he is Macho, but if Tim drinks because he enjoys both drinking and thinking - then how can he possibly be macho? Then of course there was Ernest Hemingway, but the future shouldn't be about tragic hero's today, or any kind of hero-worship for that matter. IMHO the future is about each of us becoming innovators and that means the discovery of our own individual flow and how that combines to create a smarter world. What drives us to drink senselessly is through the image both by those who think they own our mind and trying to live a life that has no bearing on the kind of reality innovators create. So what could be more inside this context Martin, then the reclamation of that mind. It starts with taking quotes like this and taking them back to their origin point, those who want a good hee-ha feed them with their own medicine but lets start better appreciating the ingenuity of all and not just the mythological worship of innovation as something that is outside our own being......M.
March 23, 2008 at 10:11pm by Richard Lipscombe
Innovation is an ACTION that mildly or wildly disrupts conventional thinking ,habits, and ways of being in the world.
When people act in disruptive ways, develop habits that buck conventions, and sustain unusual ways of being in the world then they often become innovative. The interesting thing is the INNOVATION itself is often accepted and adopted quickly by the masses. Meanwhile the process by which it was developed - and the person or people who developed it - are deemed to be a little bit crazy. Crazy is as crazy does and so I guess those who do actually INNOVATE things will continue to be seen as a little bit crazy.
I say let's go hang with those crazy people - we will have more fun and who knows we might just become INNOVATORS!
March 23, 2008 at 10:29pm by Eric Moore
Taking the lead in doing something truly innovative has it's calculated risks, and yes, there are always the naysayers who even go as far as calling the innovative leaders crazy. But it is the innovative leaders and risk takers who pave the way for the future. Innovative leaders have been around for centuries and funny enough, some of them were considered crazy too. Henry Ford mass produced cars before there were paved roads and Tim Berners-Lee with the world wide web before the majority of people had personal computers. Both men had visions of what could be and eventually was by leading the way through their innovations. Crazy? not at all. Admirable? Most Definitely!
March 24, 2008 at 8:04am by Mark Zorro
Eric while some intellectuals abhor some of the personal beliefs of Henry Ford, I have looked at his book "Today and Tomorrow" and found it pretty enlightening. His book really does bring the best thinking of Henry Ford forth, which for the most part is highly practical - and the fact that he has turned some of this practical thinking into real world transformation, makes that innovative. I think Maasaki Omai has some pertinent observations about the western leaders cerebral preoccupation or obsession with "all things innovation", which is one thing Henry Ford did not exhibit, for he simply made things flow and happen - which is what innovation should be......M.
March 24, 2008 at 9:00am by YLL Catino
Context or no context, White is absolutely correct. Folks who are innovative (creative) tend to not walk the traditional line; they think and behave differently from what is perceived as the norm. Einstein? Picasso? Martha Graham? Bill Gates? Google? Apple?
March 25, 2008 at 5:20am by Mark Zorro
CNN can be considered to be innovators in news media. Yet to a large degree CNN (the Cable News Network) behaves like the Childlike Numbing Network. In other words an innovation does necessarily mean that what is being served up to the wider audience is going to be necessarily a good thing. Likewise in a smart society there is no reason why innovation does not become the norm and this means that it does not matter who is right or who is wrong, but simply what serves us to lead us down a smarter road, in the case of CNN they actually do present some smart programming, but why do people follow the norm, other than most have been taught to follow the norm. I guess my last word on this subject should come from Henry Ford, the book I mentioned earlier, the Henry Ford quote is [THERE ARE ALWAYS TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD - THOSE WHO PIONEER AND THOSE WHO PLOD. THE PLODDERS ALWAYS ATTACK THE PIONEERS. THEY SAY THAT THE PIONEERS HAVE GOBBLED UP ALL THE OPPORTUNITY, WHEN, AS A PLAIN MATTER OF FACT, THE PLODDERS WOULD HAVE NO WHERE TO PLOD HAD N0T THE PIONEERS FIRST CLEARED THE WAY".] Now imagine what our society may one day be like if universal education instructed our educational establishments that developing innovative mindsets should be the norm and not a social exception, then what will this new found quality of pioneering do to any nation that so fostered such a norm?......M.