Innovation by Outliers

I’ve been reading the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and it has emphasised something about creativity and innovation for me. The book's premise is that the people who are outliers, meaning someone who is outside the statistical norm in wealth or physical prowess, are often usually that way only because of very hard work and not necessarily innate talent or intelligence. There are several points relevant to creativity which come out of the book:

· If you’re innovative / creative but don’t see things through, you won’t necessarily achieve your potential. Average people can beat you if you don’t put the time in.

· Being creative is not enough to get you ahead, even in a profession where this skill is crucial.

· Even where you might be of an average skill level for creativity or innovation, if you consistently apply your skill over a period of time, you will not only improve, but will excel ahead of others who have not put in the time – even if they are more creative than you are.

· Due to the timing involved, your idea might or might not work – so you need to keep trying.

· Culture can have an effect on how creative you are, and how likely you are to put your ideas forward.

For me, the overall message, from a Profit Power point of view, is that you need a sustained pipeline of ideas that you are working on over a period of time. That way, you capture the most ideas and have the best chance of capturing the ideas that could make the most impact. He also says most outliers achieve their best after 10,000 hours of work in their area! If you’re not getting the ideas you want, maybe you need to spend more time at it.