Mitch Ditkoff recognizes the fact that this world revolves around innovators. Around people that take the familiar and make it more economic, affordable, usable, versatile, efficient, whatever have you. But how does one do that? How can one get themselves in that creative state where their juices are flowing and they are truly thinking out of the box. Ditkoff believes that there are actions we can take to get us in this state of mind. Tangible acts that can be put into words and sentences. Fourteen sentences, if fact. And he has them to share with us.
FASCINATION
Mitch’s first point in this paper is the idea of fascination. That things make us think for a reason. What I find interesting, others won’t. And I will still have no idea why some people are fascinated by ancient history. But that’s ok, that is his point and I fully agree with him. Fascination knocks on the doors of our brains all the time. We must tap into that curiosity and use it to push ourselves forward into further research, discovery, and inspiration.
IMMERSE
If we just put half of ourselves into a task, it will only be half done. If we put half of our brains to a thought, it will remain half an idea. Ditkoff exposes one of our problems that surfaces in the form of multitasking. Even as I am writing this blog, I have some background music on, I’m halfway in a conversation with my roommate sitting across the room, I am occasionally responding to texts, I am fighting the temptation to watch my roommate play XBox. Now, that being said, am I fully immersed in this paper? Admittedly, no. Would this be a beneficial environment to do some serious work or thinking in? No. Yet this is what most college students do, put half effort into their work. And that is exactly what they get back, a so-so result.
TOLERATE AMBIGUITY
We have all heard the very inspirational quotes about failure. “You don’t fail until you give up,” “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.” But how much truth is there to these oh so corny quotes? Mitch would argue quite a lot of truth. In fact, he says that “failing” is something we must get used to. That not knowing something is inevitable and we should use this as motivation instead of an excuse to stop. I very much so agree with this statement. If people were to give up when they were confused or when they didn’t succeed on the first time, we would live in a much dumber world.
Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better.
Samuel Beckett
What trends in the marketplace most intrigues you? In what ways might these trends shift in
the coming years—and how might your most inspired idea be in sync with this imagined shift?
Technology seems to be moving at a ridiculous pace. This years computers are eighteen times faster than last years. Your laptop can’t make you coffee? That’s so old school. Oh, you got a new iPhone 4? Have you heard about the new features of the iPhone 5 that is coming out in a few months?
Innovators are taking the current standard of computers and technology, and constantly looking for ways to make them better and faster. They are looking for ways to make them better than their competitor and more marketable to the largest amount of people.
Electronics are evolving on a exponential graph, and it looks like they will only continue to do so. So why should anyone care about this? Well for one thing, it means less money in our pockets. But it also a prime example of a competitive marketplace that is growing a blazingly fast rate due to great, revolutionary ideas.
If every market, college, job had this kind of competition and motivation to outdo the next guy in line, the results would be unthinkable. We get lazy, unmotivated, bored, content, and we lose the vigor that is necessary for real change and inspiration. If you want to have breakthrough ideas, you need to find ways to stay motivated.
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