This Tiny Shift in Attitude Can Change your Innovation Game

(video at the bottom)

Do you solve problems for a living?

And, then, after work, do you get home and solve more problems?

Me too.

If you think about the problems you face at work, and at home, are there some that are particularly important? Problems that if you solved would greatly improve your life, or the lives of your customers or family?

Most people would say, "Yes."

One more question: Do you face problems that are complex, are new to you, or in some way challenge your thinking?

Me too : )

This is the realm of innovation and creativity. Solving new and meaningful challenges is the work of great innovators, and the mission of my organization.

Solving new and meaningful problems is the work of great innovators.

So, what makes the difference? What makes some people adept creative problem solvers and others look like a fish trying to tie a shoelace?

Well, there's one well-kept secret, that anyone can make use of, that I'm going to tell only you, and you're going to be rich! ...and famous.... Just kidding. There is no secret. Innovation takes intelligence, hard work, some luck, a world of skills, a great network & community, and a variety of resources. Like many other difficult pursuits, it is a worthy endeavor. It brings adventure to life and work, and it cures the all too common sickness summarized elegantly by most as "I hate my job."

Oh, solving complex problems requires one more thing.

People who successfully innovate, have something in common that underlies their skill and particular expertise: Attitude.

Great innovators approach problems with the same attitude. In short, one part curiosity and one part courage.

Most of us spent long enough in formal education and formal jobs to have arrived at the notion that in order to solve a problem, you must know how to solve it. It's a fairly logical conclusion that innovators... ignore entirely!

Innovators are, in a way, delusional. They think anything is possible, and so, quite bravely, they try what others don't try.

Then of course, they fail : (

And this is where curiosity comes in. While failure may create doubt, or fear, (even the bravest people feel fear), what gets innovators through to the other side is their curiosity. Their sense of wonder is so deep and profound, that they want to know why they failed. What happened? What might they try differently? Some very sophisticated innovators even plan to fail. They don't call it failure. They call it experimenting, and rightly so if the objective is to learn something.

Innovators are courageous enough to set their hearts on something, and to pursue it without wavering. Their curiosity implores them to relish in mistakes and in learning.

In this way, learning through action, and never backing down, innovators do the impossible, never having known at the onset just how they were going to succeed.

Here's a short excerpt from my interactive keynote on the attitude of great innovators:

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Costa Michailidis is an innovation project leader, speaker, and co-founder at Innovation Bound, nurturing creativity and innovation across sectors and helping solve new and meaningful problems.

More: www.InnovationBound.com/Costa