Is Inspiration Important?

To an extent, I think inspiration is a media perpetuated myth which only succeeds in making us feel inferior to those who have achieved significant or unprecedented success.

That's not to say it isn’t important or doesn’t exist, it is and it does, but in my opinion not in the way that it is historically portrayed of famously retold.

The conventionally learned wisdom which has become the accepted reality is that inspiration is divine intervention, which happens instantaneously in a single moment which unequivocally changes everything that follows. Although this may be true occasionally, or exceedinly rarely, more often than not it is something that can be cultivated, built upon and arrived at after time.

The romanticised vision that Travis Kalinick, on a snowy Paris evening in 2008, along with Garrett Camp, had trouble hailing a cab so they came up with a simple idea—tap a button, get a ride is heresy. It's a cute story which impresses VC's but as a factually accurate anecdote, it falls some way short of reflecting the reality of inspirational processes.

That is to say, the seed may have fully germinated in that one moment but inspiration is like pregnancy. An idea is planted in the past which only pays fruit after it has had time to incubate and grow.

Inspiration is taken from the well of cumulative knowledge you have built up over years. It is the unrelated and irrelevant pieces of useless information you have accumulated which in one moment aligns to arrive at a new conclusion or idea.

The importance of inspiration cannot be undersold but diluting the process of hard work into a single moment disingenuously overlooks the struggle, learning and growth people must go through in order to arrive at a new idea.

Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.

“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“But, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”

Inspiration is portrayed as a simple moment of brilliance, a Eureka moment. this couldn't be further from the truth. It ignores the context in which the Eureka moment is arrived at, often beneath a pile of paper detailing discarded ideas and failed ventures. The quintessential truth of inspiration is that it appears as one moment of brilliance but everything that has proceeded that moment in your life has led to it.

Inspiration only occurs when you are actively pursuing something. When your mind is open to the suggestions of the world and it is cognisant of the opportunities available to it. In order to ever have an inspirational moment, you need a more holistic understanding of the area in which your discovery is made or your idea is formed.

In the same way you wouldn't see a medical doctor stumble upon the next great discovery in physics it wasn't a taxi driver who founded Uber.

Why? It's because of their personal experiences and expertise. Travis Kalanick may not have understood the idiosyncrasies involved in personal transportation, outside his annoyance of having to wait for a cab, but he possessed the capability to envision and create the technological platform he envisioned.

There was a direct correlation between his own personal inspiration, personal expertise and capability.

That means that inspiration is only possible when you possess the requisite knowledge, expertise or interest in a specific sphere. Like the taxi driver, if you are unfamiliar with computer programming languages, understanding of network effects and platforms then Uber is physically incompressible and no amount of inspiration will ever bridge the gap between the idea for Uber and the capability of someone without the skill set.

Inspiration can come from anywhere and knowledge can be extended or widened by broadening one's horizons. I find inspiration from both fiction and non-fiction, from the news and from blogs. I derive inspiration from historical texts which enable me to envision historical precedent in a modern setting and how similar ideas can be utilised in an updated way.

Knowledge is broadened by stepping out with your comfort zone. It involves understanding and exploring topics that are foreign to you which enables you to link unrelated concepts in fresh innovative ways. Nobody who ever lived has your personal experience, so exploit the unique perspective you have on the world by giving yourself the absolute best opportunity to succeed.

Inspiration literally couldn't happen without a pre-formed effort to expand the knowledge you are able to call upon. By deepening your well of knowledge as much as possible and by widening the base on which you can draw new and unique conclusions you cultivate the conditions in which inspiration can occur.

Inspiration isn't the most important thing. Inspiration is the serendipity of thought that results from an unmerciful pursuit of extended and expanded knowledge. Inspiration simply happens, so the pursuit of it as a means to an end and admiring its importance is folly.

Inspiration matters but it's not the most important thing. Let your mind wonder and create new neural pathways between topics which are not apparently linked or seem independent of one another and in this space inspiration will occur.

How you react following an inspirational moment is the most important thing. Inspiration happens in every moment, of every day but almost everyone fails to act of follow up on it.

You need be attuned to the opportunities that present themselves and have the grit and determination to pursue them otherwise inspiration dissipates as unfulfilled potential.

If you liked this article, it would mean a lot to me if you shared it on LinkedIn or Twitter. Want more like this? Follow me on Medium,Twitter or Facebook. 

You may repost this article on your blog, website, etc. as long as you include the following (including the links): “This article originally appeared here. Follow @Chris_Herd for more articles like this.”

www.chrisherd.co.uk

#MyMetric #FutureTrends #BigIdeas