innovation

A Little Spice of New

With the dark cold days winter upon us, I sometimes feel the natural inclination to settle into my ways, hibernate a little more and stick closer to my knitting. I guess when it is 9 degrees outside that’s only normal but in my opinion, not for long. Sure, I’m all about having a routine and counting on some predictability in life but I am also a believer in adding a spice of newness as often as possible into my life.

Trying something new doesn’t have to be exotic – it can be as simple as trying out a new running path, or picking a different genre of book out of the library. It might be signing up for a class that is out of one’s comfort zone or choosing to explore a new cranny in the city, visiting an off the beaten track museum or trying out a new restaurant. Yesterday, for example, my husband and I took to the kids on adventure to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago where we explored submarines, airplanes, trains, old circuses, the science of storms, the recent moon landing of Curiosity. What a great place to open the mind – and be inspired by invention and innovation, both new and old!

I find that when I try something new, I have renewed energy and often rekindle my appreciation for the “tried and true” things that had begun – for whatever reason – to become less inspiring. Trying something new brings me fresh perspectives, new stories to tell and renewed energy and provides me with inspiration to enhance what I doing by brining new inspirations to the folds or at times better ways of doing things or solving problems. Embracing the new little by little also enables me to come to work a bit more prepared to challenge the “status quo” and the “that’s the way we’ve always done business around here” mentality that so often blinds companies to new opportunities and causes them little by little to settle into their ways, at the expense of innovation and long term growth.

What do you think or do or try today that’s new?

innovation

Steve Jobs, an innovation hero

The evening I found out Steve Jobs passed away on October 5th I was running about my home trying to locate my IPhone which I can’t seem to do without. My four year was playing a game on my husband’s IPad and I was listening to ITunes on my IPod (which replaced the stereo in my living room years ago). My husband was surfing the web – yes on his Mac.

Apple is clearly one brand and company that has changed my life, and I know I am not alone.

Upon hearing the breaking news, I was stunned and saddened. We have lost a formidable national hero and a global innovator. Some people, recalling the impact that Steve had on their lives, have left flowers and apples at neighborhood Apple Stores. Others have turned to Walter Isaacson’s recounting of Job’s life, and still many more have simply bought a song on iTunes, downloaded an App on their IPad or have talked about his passing on all forms of social media imaginable.

My favorite social post was from a friend, forty years old like me, who facebooked a retro picture of herself as a kid with her Apple Computer. Wow, that brought back memories – Apple was the first computer I ever touched when I was a child. Today Apple continues to enchant me with their designs and technologies. Job’s legacy is everywhere around me – some might even call it the IWorld.

Jobs didn’t just lead the team that brought the above gadgets into existence — he was also a visionary of the computer-navigating mouse and touch-screen, the personal computer, legally downloadable music, and cloud computing. Through Pixar we thank him to infinity and beyond for the Toy Story movies.

Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. You will be missed.