Where Do Breakthroughs Come From?

In a time where global economies continue to consolidate, innovation becomes more essential than ever.  More than fifty years ago, the US was by far the dominant force in global trade.  The world depended on our innovation.  Now, other countries compete with us.  While improvements are necessary, going forward, the wealthiest countries will be the creators of breakthroughs, some technology or advancement that hasn’t existed before. Those countries will attract and retain the most brilliant minds and stay one step ahead.  

Most experts in science or business give great explanations for how breakthroughs are created.  However, like Monday morning quarterbacks, they give explanations after the fact.  The biggest problem with an explanation is that it gives people no access to producing breakthroughs.  It’s a description of the dish, but not a recipe.

What Was Einstein Thinking?

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" – Albert Einstein

Why would one of the smartest people in history say something so counterintuitive? We are taught to depend on knowledge.  However, knowledge is based on the past. It’s what has already been discovered and what we already know. The future rests in part on that knowledge, but more importantly, by its very definition, it requires something that does not already exist.

True imagination is conjured up from nothing. If you allow yourself to think from nothing – suspend all knowledge and preconceptions and allow yourself to be with nothing – you will be amazed at the possibilities that enter your mind.

When you allow yourself to enter the world of imagination, you can create knowledge. All the great inventors who have provided us with hypothesis and proofs for us to learn know this. They invented knowledge from nothing. 

What knowledge will you invent today? 

Honey Did You Take Your Implant This Year?

The implants to which I am referring have nothing to do with how you look cosmetically. There is a company called MicroChips, Inc. that has developed an experimental, implantable microchip to deliver drugs in your body. For now, the microchip is designed to replace painful shots. It is said that the microchip will have the ability to deliver medicine in your body more accurately and reliably than administering the injections yourself.

Dr. Seuss on the Importance of the Company You Keep

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

When you stand for something with integrity, it is a way of saying who you are. If you are surrounded by people who constantly want to prove your stand wrong, let them go. The people who will stand by you and provide the support and guidance you need will be there for you.   

If you really want to know who your friends are, make your stand and commitments known. Those who matter will still be standing there. The others will find a way to disappear. 

A Foul Smell Coming From Avon

Heads have rolled at makeup supplier Avon, Inc. The FBI and US prosecutors are investigating allegations that executives at Avon violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In 2005, while Avon was pursuing a license in China to conduct door-to-door sales, it is alleged that Avon executives bribed government officials in China as well as third party consultants. 

China is known for using bribes as a common business practice. However, in 1977, the US Justice Department enacted FCPA to prevent companies from using bribes while conducting business abroad. Nevertheless, since 1977, prosecutors have uncovered more than 40 cases that violated FCPA which totaled more than $2 billion in criminal penalties. You would think people have gotten the hint by now. 

What is amazing is that in 2005 an internal audit was done at Avon and questioned several hundred thousands of dollars paid to Chinese officials. Yet, it took until 2008 when an Avon employee wrote a letter to its CEO suggesting there may have been inappropriate business practices by Avon executives. Avon, in turn, conducted an internal investigation without reporting it to government officials. Now, there are questions as to whether or not Avon executives concealed the alleged bribes from its board.

Quoted: Hannah Arendt on Promise Keeping

“Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible.” – Hannah Arendt

A promise is a powerful way of speaking the future into existence. In other words, when you honor your word as yourself, you keep your promises. Your word becomes who you are. A promise then becomes a form of action instead of just talking. 

When people know you for honoring your word, your future is created by you instead of you waiting to see what the future will be.

When you think about it, all we really own is our word. People identify us by the words we use and whether or not we keep our word. Make a bold promise that empowers you and those around you and keep it, no matter what. With that, your words become reliable and so will your actions.  

Being True to Yourself

We live in a world where most people conduct their lives by following the leader. In fact, too often corrupt behavior is justified in an individual’s mind because they saw someone else do it.

For example, Richard Nixon stated emphatically, ‘I am not a crook.’ In fact, however, he had engaged in wrong doing. Some psychologists believe children who were around 10 years old during Watergate were influenced. Perhaps many of those 10 year olds are making decisions on Wall Street now. Bill Clinton said, ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman’. We all know how that turned out. What will happen to the people who were 10 at that time?

Do You Have Hidden Power?

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce

Being wrong is one of the deepest fears amongst the entire human race. People will give up success, happiness and love to avoid being wrong. Being wrong does one thing: it makes you look bad. It’s amazing what people will give up to look good or avoid looking bad. 

If we peel these thoughts another layer, perhaps the deep dark secret of the human race is that most of us already believe we are not worthy or that something is wrong with us. When we are made wrong, it conjures up the feeling that we have been found out and others know that we have been hiding the fact that we are unworthy and we have spent our lives trying to prove we are not unworthy.

Yet, once you let go of these fears, and allow yourself to explore possibilities that are beyond your current knowledge, skills and competencies, you wander into the messy world of not getting it right. At the same time, you get to learn about yourself from an entirely new perspective where you discover skills and competencies that you thought were impossible for you.  You reveal your very own individual creativity. It only takes the desire to walk through the chaos of uncertainty and the commitment to come out on the other side as the person you always wanted to be. You create or invent that person. 

What do you think? I would love your feedback. And I’m open to ideas. Or if you want to write me about a specific topic, connect through my blog www.turnaroundip.blogspot.com.