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Friday, April 20, 2012

Innovation


Long ago, Merlin Mann wrote, “Innovation is starting where the last person stopped.” I remembered that.

I figure good ideas are a by-product of posting two a week and seeing 20 a month to exercise my thinker.

Or keeping good notes. Which means having paper and a writing stick most of the time. And paying attention.

An investor once said I didn’t capture the notes of our meeting. I wrote the notes of what should have happened.

I don’t do smart on demand. I’d rather hear about a concept and take some time considering it from different directions.

Next steps often start by observing other people. Concepts become useful by writing them...several times.

The true meaning of a post can come from comments by readers.

When I’m building a new tool, there is a flurry of innovation just after I produce the first version. After a week, the improvements start to tail off. Some of the oldies don’t change year to year.

How are you harnessing innovation?

1 comment:

  1. Dick:

    I write a lot and sometimes an article or post is glitched into oblivion - and I have to write it again. The second one is better.

    My memory of the concept, what points are important, and how I conveyed them in text is remnants of the best from the original piece - the new writing is different, deeper, and more thoughtful as a result. Even more so than revisiting a draft after a day or two - since the available text distracts from re-creative thinking.

    The same applies to learning from doing - the next time is better, usually faster, and always more advanced or refined.

    Mann was right!

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