Can you use the right brain without leaving the left brain behind?
THINK CREATE INNOVATE
you want
[
to innovate to create something new
But, you know the saying, about using the same tools and strategies to get a different result ... It’s insane. You don’t get different.
You get the same.
KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
CREATIVE CLASS
INFORMATION AGE
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS
SUSTAINABILITY
are your tools and strategies designed for our context?
outside
We’ve allowed the way transitions look from the outside to drive our perception of what they must feel like on the inside. From the outside they look like dramatic, almost revolutionary breakthroughs.
inside But from the inside, they feel completely different, more like an organic development process. Jim Collins
THINK
weigh search deconstruct contrast envision criticize ponder essay research consider induce compare measure sense analyze reflect deliberate callibrate judge d i s t i l l m a k think e sense deduce synthesize meditate be critical i n f e r c o n c e i v e i n d u c e discover judge fancy infer feel form a mental picture question ideate translate describe test
we think in words and pictures
KNOWLEDGE
CREATE
express build create invest design make construct use notice beauty court truth c o n c e i v e d e v e l o p fabricate tell a story move t h i n k d i f f create e re n t o r i g i n a t e cause to exist ignore boundaries recreate test play become see patterns r i s k set trends p i c t u r e r e u s e r e p r e s e n t imaginecultivate difference
we create art, ideas and objects
CREATIVITY
INNOVATE
invent birth believe invest transform risk have courage see the future ignore rules p i o n e e r d e v e l o p c h a n g e break establish introduce seek diffe rence originate innovate found revolt be the change create something new realize see potential have courage trailblaze nonconform p e r s i s t believe in dreams lead boldly
we innovate to not get the same
LEADERSHIP
The iconic and indelible Apple story may have seeded our 21st-century obsession with innovation and our Renaissance-like hybrid imagination: it is the story of art + science and creativity + technology. Business-nerdiness and “cool” unexpectedly united. But Apple’s “Think Different” campaign was itself different: innovative branding that promoted the power of innovation. It was about revolutionary cultural icons—Gandhi, Picasso, Callas, Martin Luther King, Jr., Earhart, Ali, Henson Einstein ... ”Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently.” They were artists, thinkers, risk takers. They were not business people.
The technology helped blur the lines between individuals, creatives, entrepreneurs, organizations and institutions. But the message was more than that. It was: this personal computer is your tool to be creative and rebellious; you, too, can innovate. Anyone can innovate, but you have to be innovative about how you do it: Explore ideas. Embrace creativity. Cultivate difference. Think independently. We partly credit Apple as an early tech innovator because it’s branding promoted innovation, a culture of individualism and the courage to pursue bold ideas. But Apple also reminded us that innovation is about more than technology. Innovation is about ideas.
Virginia Apgar created the Apgar score. It quantified and assessed the vitality of newborn babies with a simple, universally adopted, 1-10 score. It significantly reduced infant mortality, revolutionizing and creating accountability in the male-dominated obstetric ward. The FDR administration’s New Deal, a comprehensive system of federal programs, addressed widespread economic and social instability during the Great Depression. It helped put bread on the table. And unite a nation. Believing in the spirit and power of emotions, Nelson Mandela built a bridge of racial understanding through rugby. Embracing the (white) national sport helped end Apartheid in South Africa.
Ideas can be simple and small or simple and big; they can be complex or unified systems; they can be partial, suggestive, conceptual or complete, holistic visions. Ideas can be instantaneous, or created over time. No matter how small or big, or how much time it takes, they can be helpful, transformative or revolutionary.
what is your idea?
[
does it cultivate creativity and difference?
will it be different?
[
not just the idea ... but how you get there?
GET THERE
man has closed himself up, ‘till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern William Blake
How to cultivate innovation while creating a learning environment. Intentionally, intelligently bring creativity to what you know and to learning more about what you know you don’t know to prepare to discover what you don’t know you don’t know. Engage your team or constituency in knowledge-based, creative planning to generate innovative ideas and visions in a learning experience that advances bold, creative thinking in your field. Add the courage to pursue an idea for social good that others say is not feasible ... and you will be developing the highest kind of leadership—not based on strength, cleverness, individual or financial gain, but human potential.
CREATIVITY
KNOWLEDGE
discovery
originality
courage
LEADERSHIP
innovation
thoughts
how are you developing on the inside?
WHITEPAPER BLUESKY facilitates social innovation using knowledge-based and knowledge-building practices and products. WHITEPAPER BLUESKY serves as a change catalyst by partnering with business leaders in visioning, planning and analysis projects that and
create
knowledge, transformation
thought
problems
and
leadership; solutions
identifying that
match
community need with sustainable practices; and promoting a community of critical and creative thinkers as next-generation leaders.
you need
][
critical
+
creative
e s s e n t i a l c a r e f u l a n a l y s i s j u n c t u re context critical theory decisive studied crucial deconstruct verging on a state of crisis important analyze reflect c o g n i t i v e critical faculties judge criticize evaluate discourse synthesize fault finding indispensible create meaning inquiring noticing errors turning point ask questions pertaining to a state, value or quantity at which one or more properties of a substance or system undergoes a change
expressive playful artistic design c o n s c i o u s becoming original clever beautiful inspired deviceful ingenue o p e n i m a g i n a t i v e b r a v e s e n s i t i v e creative mindful open risk different formative aesthetic cool selfguided intelligent dimensional hip sui generus i n n o v a t i v e re s o u rc e f u l independent r e s p o n s i v e deviceful, ingenious, innovative; uniquely characterized by originality of thought, expressiveness and design
USE BOTH
Can you use the left brain without leaving the right brain behind?