Innovation is what takes us forward. Innovation is, I believe, the driving force of the human spirit. Innovation is about finding the ultimate truth about nature and about human beings. Innovation is driven by the fact that we want to know more.

Archimedes, Leonardo Da Vinci and Nikolai Tesla are some great names from the past. They were so much ahead of their contemporaries in their thinking that many of their innovations have only been appreciated after their death. They are like saints, usually to be a saint you have to be pretty dead.

But where are the real innovations or innovators of today? It seems like innovation stopped at 50's or it went truly underground. True innovations push the boundraries of existing knowledge. We seem to be living in an age which has reached an illusionary plateau of innovation - we are led the believe that most things have been invented already. Nothing new to expect here - lets just keep everything as it is. However I believe things can be very different. 

You will recognize a truly revolutionary innovation easily. A revolutionary thought is first ridiculed - its deemed to be not possible, not scientific or just not sensible. This is because of several things. Upsetting existing view of the world causes always resistance - most people do not like or want any change (in the end we are very lazy). Also true innovation is not even necessarily very welcome in a capitalist western society if it upsets the status quo or the revenue stream of a large company. Obviously some resistance is needed so that innovations can be screened and tested but innovations should not be blocked if they would benefit us. 

As Arthur Schopenhauer has condensed this process cleverly into the following paragraph: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.". Just replace the word truth with innovation here. Same stuff in the end. 

This is what all innovators have to go through. All true innovators and visionaries have gone against the windmills, or have battled their david vs. goliath fights. Many have died poor without any recognition during their lifetime.

You are not an innovator if you do not think differently or if you are not prepared to be opposed or ridiculed in search of the truth. Real truth in the end sets your fee.

Read my blog posts tagged #Innovation.