A few weeks ago, someone whom I consider to be a pretty good thinker in this field made an observation about the dismal employment rate of people with intellectual disabilities. “Everyone in the field is standing at the edges of the problem,” he said, “There’s no innovation out there.” An exaggeration? Probably. I’m certain that, on a small scale, good ideas are being implemented every day. Nonetheless, innovation on a grand scale – the level that is needed in order to bring about significant cultural change to our field – is a little hard to come by these days. We continue to hear shouts of, “No cuts to our services” and “No caps to our funding” regarding a Medicaid system that is simply unsustainable. Sometimes it seems the prevailing enlightened strategy involves finding ways of shouting louder. More than good ideas, we need new ways of thinking. So where do we go to start building innovation in the field?
Steven Johnson, author of “Where Good Ideas Come From,” has spent several years exploring the question of innovation from an environmental perspective. In other words, looking specifically at the physical spaces and other circumstances in the environment that have historically led to high rates of creativity and innovation. Some interesting patterns emerged.
It takes time.
Contrary to what many think (and some of us desperately hope for), innovative solutions rarely occur in a sudden, unexpected and independent “AHA!” moment. Rather, they tend to evolve slowly over time. In fact, a common element Johnson found was that vital pieces of an ultimately innovative outcome were often there, lying dormant, for long periods of time. Then, influenced by another hunch (our own or someone else’s), it finally emerges in a new and functional way.
It takes connectivity
Innovation is almost always the result of the coming together of a number of smaller ideas. While those can sometimes come together in one’s own mind, more often than not, one person’s hunch is influenced by someone else’s hunch and so on.
Johnson cites both the European coffee houses and salons of the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, and the Internet of today as examples of interaction with the potential to elevate thinking. We may choose to see the technology as distracting information overload, but it does one thing very well indeed – it connects. And the great driver of innovation and creativity has been the historic increase in connectivity.
As a field, we can agree that we struggle with innovation. Just as evident, though, is the fact that we struggle with connectivity (see “Connecting the First Level Leaders”). Perhaps what Johnson is suggesting is that we struggle with innovation specifically because we are disconnected from one another?
Innovation can happen under many circumstances, of course, but as Johnson observes, “Chance favors the connected mind.”
Whom shall we invite into our conversation that they might share their own hunches and influence our thinking? What is the environment that is needed to foster field-changing innovation?
Filed under: Innovation Tagged: | connectivity, Developmental Disability, Disability, innovation, intellectual disability, Steven Johnson
[...] There are an infinite number of good things to be found beyond the parameters of our well-worn pathways of thought. In fact, the nature of good ideas, especially those put into practice, is very evolutionary. The notion of the “Eureka!” moment where an idea, fully formed, pops into being is pure fairy tale (or just dumb luck). Good ideas are most often influenced by other ideas and other factors, often with no relationship whatsoever to the original problem. (See “Building Capacity for Innovation”) [...]