Innovation vs The confines of routine

At my spin class at the gym last week, the instructor was making some point to the class about the validity of horoscopes when she turned to me and said: People like us need routine, don't we, Ron? (she remembered, I did not, that our birthdays were only days apart).

My first thought was: it is that obvious? I mean, that a semi-stranger was aware of my love for routine? Then, thinking about it, I realised I am a routine-person. I get up most mornings at 6:15am and at work by 8.30am and the two hours in between, well, I think you could set a clock by what I do.

My week is structured as well. Mondays are my days off. But I have routine: bike ride, grocery shopping, afternoon rest, preparing dinner (which is served at 6pm sharp most nights). Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays are all filled with the same routine. Even as I write this I am amazed how much routine is built into my life.

So why does it bother me when I realise I build this kind of routine in my life?

Innovation.

In the book "The Power of Unreasonable People" the authors give us a 10 part definition of Social Entrepreneurs. The first four are these:

Social Entrepreneurs...

• Try to shrug off the constraints of ideology or discipline

• Identify and apply practical solutions to social problems, combining innovation, resourcefulness, and opportunity

• Innovate by finding a new product, a new service, or a new approach to a social problem

• Focus—first and foremost—on social value creation and, in that spirit, are willing to share their innovations and insights for others to replicate

The common theme is obvious: innovation. Innovation is a major characteristic of social entrepreneur. Innovation is defined as creating and implementing a new idea. Social Entrepreneurs innovate; they come up with and put to practice new ideas for solving social problems.

But here's the point I'm trying to make: Innovation's nemesis is this: the box. Routine. Old ways of doing the same thing. We've always done it that way mentality.

Do you get my frustration? I am trying to live in the social entrepreneur world with a life that seems to be stuck in the box of routine. Am I a fraud? Am I really innovative or am I really stuck in the box and don't realise it? Am I just fooling myself?

Thank you, Stephen Lundin. For in Stephen's book entitled oddly enough CATS the nine lives of innovation he shares this truth :

Why does a car have reverse gear? This may seem like an odd question but let's approach it scientifically for a minute. Suppose you were doing a simple cost-benefit analysis and found your car is in reverse gear for 0.001 per cent of the time, but to have reverse gear costs about $500. It would be a lot of money for such a small amount of use. But reverse gear is to the car as creativity is to normal. When you need it, you need it badly. Being normal is just fine for much of your life. But when you need a new idea it requires escaping from the bonds of normal.

Innovation requires that on occasion we escape the routine or 'get outside the box'.

Woo hoo. I can feel secure with my routine, schedule and in-the-boxness and still be innovative. I just got to learn when to throw the whole thing in reverse. And that's the fun of it all. Hang on everybody, this rides going to be interesting.

Oh my, I got to get going if I am going to have dinner on by 6pm. Later...

Ronaldo

12/04/09