Innovating on Yourself
Magnus Lindkvist: futurist, trendspotter, and public speaker extraordinaire. Words won’t do much justice to his stage presence, so we’ll skip that for now.
Among Lindkvist’s many intriguing insights about innovation, our future, and how we (try to) predict it, one stuck out in particular. He spoke several times about the idea of vertical innovation, the creation of truly new ideas and sectors rather than simply horizontally pulling tried and true methods from nearby industries.
Harder to do, surely, and certainly counterculture to the advice you’ll get from any VC. And, being an entrepreneur myself, not a recipe I can say I’d fully support if your goal is a higher probability of success.
But, I found Lindkvist’s vertical theory to be a fascinating lens to apply to one’s own life. There, where success is often based in happiness, legacy, and personal growth, the idea of simply copying ones neighbor in an attempt to “horizontally” match them seems immediately stale.
Instead, striving for vertical personal innovation, in any way possible, may be a guiding light for many. Whether it’s through something as simple as adopting new, unexpected hobbies or the inspiration to launch a new career, surely this is a recipe for personal success rather than an incremental march towards further entrenchment in one’s day to day life.
Seth Godin once spoke about something similar, mentioning how no matter the velocity of success you find yourself on in one particular arena, onlookers (and you) will inevitably adjust their sights accordingly and soon be numb to continued linear success, regardless of how fantastic. We sigh and toss aside some of the world’s greatest athletes, who after a lifetime of athletic dominance at every level find they’re only middling when playing at the world class level.
Instead, Godin reasons, the only way to find continual, sustainable growth throughout a lifetime is through reinvention. Imagine if Taylor Swift had stayed in the neat box of a country artist, or Dwayne Johnson a wrestler. Of course, these are extreme cases, but celebrity isn’t a requirement for a continual focus on personal innovation.
Where to start, then? I see Lindkvist’s three recommendations for achieving growth in the business world just as applicable on the personal level.
Look elsewhere. Choose to create or compete, Lindkvist offers, and it rings true for personal innovation as well. Instead of keeping up — a losing battle for from the start — look for unturned stones and less traveled roads when it comes to where you decide to live, work, and play.
Experiment. Failure at the personal level can be even more daunting than in business, but the successes you uncover in the process may be worth it.
Patience. Perhaps a call to follow passions and interests that seem to have no practical value, knowing that in time that value will present itself.
Finding a happy, successful life is still viewed as a game of chance, but as we create these processes and methodologies for business success, we may come to realize that similar solutions in the non-profitable, immeasurable, but ever-important aspects of our personal lives matter just as much.