Need Passion, Not Genius

There is a palpable change in the conversations of some top managers of companies today. They speak less about their own product portfolios, and more about exciting new ideas they picked up from interactions with friends, neighbours, consumers and vendors.

Having realised the importance of responding quickly to changing consumer tastes, companies today have also designated specific people to pursue innovation, or made innovation and ideation part of the key mandate of project leaders. Shop floor workers are being rewarded for suggesting ideas that save cost and time, while senior employees meet often to discuss how their ideas can cross-pollinate and be carried forward.

This is how from plain noodles you now have soupy noodles; you have soap brands that lather less and thereby use up less water; you have vehicles such as Tata Ace and Tata Magic developed specifically for Indian markets.

The origin of each such innovation, of course, lies in the first casual conversation that sets off the process. Given this backdrop, it was refreshing to come across a book that gives a formal structure to these informal interactions, which have assumed such importance of late. The IDEA Hunter, written by Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer with William Bole, says that one needs to be Interested, Diverse, Exercised and Agile – or work the I-D-E-A principle.

The book examines such awe-inspiring examples of innovators such as Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Warren Buffett, Apple’s Phil Schiller and others. The authors also stress that thinking up bright ideas has nothing to do with intellectual calisthenics, but with how involved and inter- ested you are in your field. As the introduction notes: “Breakthrough ideas come to those who are in the habit of looking for them.”

The authors also provide tips to help individuals at “defining your own hunt”. Given that these are the times of ‘slash careers’, where one person juggles multiple roles – the expression is taken from Marci Alboher’s book One Person/Multiple Careers – the book under review has an entire chapter on ‘gigs’ that people don, and the need to immerse oneself in the role one has opted to play.

Among experts, the authors quote Michael Himes, a Catholic priest and professor of theology at Boston College, who encourages his students to reflect on their professional choices. Himes points out that people have multiple vocations but need to first resolve the issues of identity and self-definition. Settling these early leads to a more empowered dialogue, and allows people to focus better at seeking and exchanging ideas.

This beautifully complements another change that David H. Pink refers to in his book The Whole New Mind, where he discusses how our society, having transitioned from the industrial to the information age is now getting a tantalising whiff of the conceptual era. People seek connections, and ideas will be the bedrock of everyday reality. You find resonance and validation of several thought strains in this book, and all of it packaged in an easy-to-digest form. As an aside, I agree totally with the bit about conversation ‘terminators’ and ‘continuers’, how the former kill ideas, while the latter help them bloom. Conversations are truly complex ‘animals’, the starting point of most changes.