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I recently took part in a discussion which asked the question “are there any differences between Ideas and Suggestions?” My contribution was to propose this metaphor:

…that suggestions are seeds, ideas are seeds that have sprouted, and innovations are plants in full bloom.

Here is a short parable based on that metaphor. It has the current financial crisis in mind and I hope it prompts us to think about how we might respond. 

Click here (for pdf): Parable of the Beautiful Town (826)

The shory is in a pdf file. Click the link above and it will open in a browser window. Right click the link and “save target as” if you’d like a copy or wish to share it with others.

A Parable for Modern Times [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

I’d like to acknowledge contribution from the following people who each provided elements for this story in the original discussion:   Prakasan Kappoth, Senior Manager KM, Systematic Innovation Facilitator & Innovation Consultant at MindTree;   Kevin Paylow, Innovation, Knowledge Management & Strategy Activist;   Nigel Collin, Business Creativity Speaker & Consultant;    Grant Bosnick, Chief Executive Thinker at YES (Your Empowering Solution); and    Marian Thier, Owner, Expanding Thought, and Professional Training & Coaching Consultant.

I’d love your feedback. Please leave a comment or contact me directly through the “Contact Me” button under my photo.

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In two recent posts I introduced very different examples of innovations – one was very practical, the other a very powerful concept.

The first was SPIN Farming which is a very practical, powerful, and profitable approach to small scale farming. The second was a short video introducing the Girl Effect; which is the concept that improving (saving) a girl’s life has exponential effect on her, her family, and her community.

What is interesting about these two innovations is that they have been arrived at from two completely different directions.

SPIN Farming is the build up of one concept upon another. The innovation comes as concepts have combined and been adapted within their new environment. In this instance the innovation is cumulative.

If we look at the “Girl Effect” I think that the starting point was a mass of research, observations, data and overwhelming everyday problems. The Girl Effect is a distillation of all of that until a single succinct diamond of a concept was exposed – save a girl, change the world.

That single line ties everything else together. Examine any element of the Girl Effect material and that single phase jumps out at you.

So why is this helpful? It illustrates that inspiration, ideas, creativity, and innovation can come from everywhere, from every direction. It can be a sequential building of a core idea or it can be refinement of much information down to a core concept.

What is valuable here is to acknowledge that innovation has many sources. Perhaps opening up our awareness and improving our skill at recognising those sources is one of the key tools in the innovator’s toolbox.

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How do you take a very simple idea and turn it into something very powerful and very moving? Watch this video and see.

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