If You Want To Be Innovative, You Must Be Unconventional

When was the last time you encountered a problem or obstacle you weren’t expecting? Yesterday? This morning? Two minutes ago? Life is unpredictable, isn’t it? There’s no magic formula that solves life’s problems. Instead, every obstacle, mistake, or sticky situation requires innovative thinking to come up with a solution.

That’s why we all need creative thinking skills to thrive.

Creative problem-solving is a vital life skill

From astronauts to auto mechanics, therapists to theologians, and piano teachers to parents, our everyday lives are filled with challenges. Every challenge forces us to come up with a solution. And all that problem-solving grows tiresome, so we often resort to our default strategies. Sometimes those tried-and-true solutions work just fine—but not always! Because life can’t be reduced to a formula.

Therefore, the better we are at coming up with innovative solutions to our problems, the more likely we are to successfully overcome them. Unfortunately, innovation isn’t easy, partly because ….

Conformity and conventional thinking squelch innovation

When I was a little girl, I loved to draw. I spent many happy hours drawing. Then one day somebody told me my drawings weren’t good because they didn’t look as nice as so-and-so’s drawings. It was true! My drawings didn’t measure up, so I accepted their assessment—that I was not good at drawing.

So, I stopped.

I compared myself to somebody else, failed to conform to somebody’s standard of “good” art, and thus accepted the verdict that I was not good at drawing—an opinion my inner critic still reinforces today.

Don’t let this story be your story! Worrying about what others think squelches our creativity, stifles original thinking and steals our joy. When we worry about conforming to other’s expectations, we keep our crazy ideas to ourselves lest we look stupid or weird. When we stick to the tried-and-true because we’re afraid to try something that might not work, we’ll never stumble onto a new and better way.

However, when we give ourselves permission to be unconventional, we cast off those fears and open the way for our creative souls to thrive. Successful innovators have learned this lesson. As the CEO of Google puts it:

“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.”

Sundar Pichai

That diverse mix of voices comes when everyone in the group is allowed to be their unconventional self, with their own unique way of seeing the world and their specific mix of personality and experiences.  

Unconventionality is an asset because it enables innovative thinking

A quietly unconventional lifestyle is built on a firm self-worth that isn’t threatened by other’s opinions, and a willingness to stand out when our choices clash with mainstream ideology. That, in turn, gives us the freedom to be authentic and real instead of focused on winning approval and avoiding mistakes.

These are the attitudes that enable us to think outside the box and embrace ideas that may seem weird, crazy, or impractical. Sometimes those crazy ideas make a mess. (Oops). Other times, those crazy ideas are the raw material that leads to the stunningly creative and world-changing innovation. (Ta da!)

“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.”

Brené Brown

Here are some other attitudes that encourage us to be flexible, embrace experimentation, learn from mistakes and develop innovative solutions to real-life problems.

• Originality and innovation require stepping outside the box and trying things no one has tried before. Sometimes this makes a mess. (Oops!) Other times it leads to brilliance. (Ta da!)
• Innovation, creative thinking, justice, and beauty are stifled by conformity, groupthink, perfectionism, and legalism.
• It requires courage to be vulnerable and risk putting my ideas and creations into the world where they might be rejected. But the world is enriched by my original work, imperfect as it may be.
• The world doesn’t need two million perfect copies of the Mona Lisa. Instead, we need a whole gallery of art—which comes from every one of us doing our own particular, unique work. We are each perfectly imperfect in our own odd but important way.
• We need unconventional ideas, solutions, and leaders to move beyond this generation’s blind spots, misconceptions and limitations.
• Conflict does not always mean things are going wrong. Conflict is often healthy and a sign of growth. 

Next steps to becoming more innovative

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, that you created me in your image, so that—like you—I am capable of thinking, feeling, and creating. I cannot create something from nothing, but I can use my mind, hands, and voice to create original ideas and innovative solutions. Help me to quit trying to conform to the image of those around me and instead eagerly embrace and celebrate all you have made me to do and be. You created a world rich in variety, and I want to do my small part to add to that richness.

Action

Create “ugly” art

Pick a creative activity that you are not already good at (or try a new technique you’ve never tried before in an area you are good at). Create something. (See below for ideas.) Give yourself permission to make a marvelous mess because you know you’re only a beginner. While you work, focus on how it feels. Pay attention to how this activity involves your senses, and also notice how the activity makes your heart feel.

IMPORTANT: When you are finished, look your masterpiece squarely in the face and thank it for what it taught you and for the joy it gave you. After that, you may throw it away or keep it, your choice.

Some ideas for your creative experiments:

• Edible art – Make food, such as a different style of cooking, inventing a recipe, or trying your hand at cake decorating.
• Performance art – Make up a dance, song, poem, or story.
• 2D art ­– Create a picture with paints, fabric, pencils, glue and paper, etc.
• 3D art – Build something out of wood, fabric, Legos, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, paper, etc.
• Concept art – Invent something, such as a new business, product, or method.
• Virtual art – create something using a computer, from a picture to an object to a video.

Inspiration

Finally, let these words inspire you to think thoughts no one else is thinking.

“Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.”

Albert Einstein