To be more innovative in your business life, you need to go outside your normal boundaries. You need to go to a place where experimentation and a willingness to learn run rampant. Get thee to an innovation conference!
There is nothing more exhilarating than seeing how a small group of dedicated and passionate “amateurs” can do what major corporations, NGOs and governments can’t or won’t. Listen to Joi Ito, director of MIT Media Lab, discuss, in his recent TED talk, how the lab created SafeCast--a project that gives citizens radiation maps, one of the most successful citizen science projects ever (created in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the Japanese government’s unresponsiveness in providing information). It begs the question: If people can do that, what could you do for your clients and your community?
There is nothing more amazing than actually hearing and talking to leaders about how they are accomplishing the incredible or impossible, and realizing the true extent of how much and how fast our world is really changing. It is proof positive of author William Gibson’s statement, “The future is here. It is just not evenly distributed.”
For a detailed example of the topics and discussions at a major innovation conference, click here to see an executive summary of last year's three-day 2014 “Front End of Innovation Conference” in Boston.
Innovation conferences exist in their own unique sector of the world. They evoke images like the title of Douglas Adams’ book, The Restaurant at the Edge of the Universe or Peter’s Café in the port city of Horta in the Azores, as described in The Medici Effect. Peter’s Café is a meeting place, like the coffee houses of yore, in the middle Atlantic, where world traveling sailors stop between Europe and the Americas. These are the places of random connection, diverse viewpoints and cultural convergence, where ideas intermingle and collide. They become nexus points in the world of new ideas.
In my forays into these bastions of extreme creativity and courage, I have found that there is incredible energy in having so many proactive and inquisitive minds--across all industries--with a genuine desire to connect, share and learn. They gather to celebrate their passion about solving big problems, leading change and making innovation real and more prevalent in their businesses and their communities. They refuse to be blindsided by the hyper-rate of change happening all around them and, wisely, are positioning themselves to start leading it.
Julie Anixter, an innovation dynamo actively involved in numerous major innovation organizations like Innovation Excellence.com, Disruptor Foundation, Think Remarkable and Maga Design Group, wrote a great blog post a few years ago entitled “7 Ways Conferences Cause You To Innovate.” She states, unequivocally, that if you are serious about being more innovative in your work and life, then innovation conferences must become “a strategic choice about how and where to invest your discretionary time.” They offer you the confidence and courage to take the steps and risks necessary to create and offer new ideas, business models and services for your clients and community. They can “inspire and nurture your work, your imagination and your willingness to push beyond your comfort zone. They are fuel.”
Here is her list of seven ways innovation conferences can help:
1. You may discover your tribe (i.e., your innovation network), and tribes help you grow.
2. You can validate what’s possible by seeing it in others.