Cultivating Innovation

By Guest Blogger, Jess Stohlmann

Growing up, I remember hearing my mom tell me, “Perception is reality.” She said it so often, that it became a sort of script for me. When people talk about a problem or a situation and have a very narrow, focused view, that is always what runs through my mind. What my mom was talking about when she said, “Perception is reality,” is so much more complex than it might seem on the surface.

First, there is an assumption that perception is not the same for all people. This means that there are constraints on perception, and that these constraints are different for each individual. This study is a great example of what I mean: 

The Simon & Levins “Door Study” shows us that there are constraints on what people perceive. When people are busy doing one thing, something that seems obvious from the outside can change without them noticing. If you think about how the subject would talk about what happened and what was important, it would probably be very different from what we, the observers would identify as what happened and what was important.

Perceptual constraints aren’t just what we are focusing on and what we are ignoring. Stereotypes put constraints on our perceptions, our past successes and failures shape how we approach problems, etc. All of these constraints narrow our perceptions. They narrow our perceptions so uniquely, that the way each individual perceives the world is different. That is part of what my mom meant when she told me, “Perception is reality.”

The other part of what she meant is that most people do not spend any time trying to remove perceptual constraints, so to them what is ‘real’ and ‘possible’ must exist inside those constraints. Innovators are people who can overcome their perceptual constraints.

Being innovative isn’t just a natural skill that certain people have; all people are capable of being innovative. We can create conditions in which innovation is cultivated. We can open up spaces for innovation by practicing overcoming our perceptual constraints. Using new methods for problem solving is a practical way to start. Here is a process you can try:·       Assume that all problems have multiple solutions

• Generate a lot of ideas – do not allow yourself to stop after you have come up with a few easy solutions. Problems are hard (that’s why they are problems) and solutions should not always be easy.
•  Spend time assessing the ideas
• Assume that innovation is based on utility – the best solutions are useful, not just different
• Choose the best idea and use it!

Once you start opening up spaces for innovation while you are problem solving, innovative approaches to other aspects of work and play will become easier and more natural. Practicing innovation broadens the scope of our perception, and makes things that previously seemed impossible, possible.