Rule 1: Innovation cannot be predicted
Most of the time, one does not find what he searches for, nor he searches for what he finds
Rule 2: Innovation is not a buzzword
Solution shall not come before the problem
Rule 3: Innovation can only be walked, not mapped
Innovation comes from anywhere, not from somewhere
Rule 4: Innovation is a state of mind, not a skill
You get nothing out of scowling
Rule 5: Innovation belongs to the doers
But I have an MBA, I will pitch quantum theory in two sentences for the next QBR
Rule 6: Innovation cannot be put into a box
That would defeat the very purpose of thinking out of it
Rule 7: Innovation is hard to get, easy to kill
Solve this problem by tomorrow morning. Micromanaging to death
Rule 8: Innovation is risky
Risk cannot be managed by taking none. That would be the greater risk
Rule 9: Innovation is found beyond fear
Put your doubts to good use for once, go through them !
Rule 10: Innovation does not fit into any ticket
We have a user story for that. You know, the same user that does not even exist because we are creating something new
Rule 11: Innovation is imagination
Everybody does it without even thinking
Rule 12: Innovation is un-manageable
It can only be led
Rule 13: Innovation is not necessarily big
The smallest thing often brings the most value
Rule 14: Innovation is not necessarily complex
Occam rules in many places
Rule 15: Innovation is creativity
Ask the real artists, they are the ones to know
Rule 16: Innovation is not homogeneous
Diversity is key, in every dimensions
Rule 17: Innovation is life
Seriously though, you cannot pretend. Life is essentially absurd, deal with it. Embrace it
Rule 18: Innovation is a fact
Ask the Bulls all right, a pile of fact, no shit
Rule 19: Innovation is beyond “reality”
Surrealist by nature that is
Rule 20: Innovation is not serious
Play it for once
Rule 21: Innovation has no morals
Only you can bring the ethic
Rule 22: Innovation does not care about you
It’s up to you to bring care to the table
Rule 23: Innovation is blinding
Don’t be a mosquito, stay away from the high lights
Rule 24: Innovation is love
Give a try at efficiently hating your problem
Rule 25: Innovation is not rational
Or else it would be deterministic
Rule 26: Innovation is absurd
Often proven ad absurdum even
Rule 27: Innovation has little if no meaning
Ask Edison and his talking to the dead ones. Now go and be meaningful
Rule 28: Innovation cannot be owned
Go patent this brain state
Rule 29: Innovation is never new
It’s only a possible that existed before you knew it
Rule 30: Innovation is the opposite of ego
Don’t get fouled by the Post Orgasmic Syndrome
Rule 31: Innovation is not polite
Raising your little finger is essentially counterproductive, but that does not mean you should not be kind
Rule 32: Innovation just happens
You just need to be there when it does
Rule 33: Innovation is Nature
It even started before human and earth
Rule 34: Innovation is mostly accidental
Don’t be afraid to break things, be ready to fix them
Rule 35: Innovation is not a good teacher
Failure is a far better one
Rule 36: Innovation is hard
Go all in or just don’t
Rule 37: Innovation is easy
Mostly comes out without paying attention
Rule 38: Innovation can be served
But it’s not at your service
Rule 39: Innovation is the highest in value
Just a matter of time before you figure out how to use it
Rule 40: Innovation is mostly misunderstood
But it may be reproduced
Rule 41: Innovation is you
But you are not innovation
Rule 42: Innovation is truth
Truth is a dance
🗣️Platonic approach
Why 42 rules ?
That is not THE question
Is there anything I should learn ?
You mostly need to un-learn
Am I fit to innovation ?
If you can “not do it”, just don’t
Why would you say such a thing, why is it useful to the matter ?
You ask me why when I show you how
That’s kind of harsh …
Stop winning, this is actually kind
Now you are playing with me …
Playing is a very serious matter
Like having fun, fooling around and joking ?
Exactly
Ahahaha …
This is genuinely serious, be a child, don’t be childish
A bit too simple hey ?
Simplicity is what comes last, the very essence of true complexity
What ?
Complex thing can only be ruled by simple principles, it would just be too complex otherwise
How can this be of any use ?
Doers don’t ask, they just do
No kidding, I need shit to get done, not a philosophical lecture
That’s what I said, you need to be a doer
I was going to say that this is a bit too simple …
Good thing you did not, because simple is not stupid
But my boss, my investors, what about them ?
They need to learn not to be in charge, making money should suffice
I was about to laugh …
We are indeed getting somewhere
Seriously though, deadlines, customers, how do you handle that ?
When you go slower, it’s easier hit deadlines, but do you really want to go slower ?
Faster ?
Doers go faster when they just do. So yes, when you do, you may follow some mid / long term paths that are not immediately felt by managers and customers, but at the end of the day, you go faster by a lot. Especially if you actually go toward a solution
But this is not practical !
In practice, what this means is that, yes, you will lose the exactly on tuesday delivery, but should this occur, it should only be postponed until next week, and if it is not, then it means that no deadline was achievable
What do I win by letting that happen ?
From experience your yearly throughput will be at least increased by ten time if you just encourage doers to do.
Ten time, really, now you are exaggerating !
This is actually a low estimate. Don’t you see projects leading nowhere ? Don’t you see product delivered that no one ever use or even wanted ?
Yeah right, more often than not, but this is not my fault
If you can excuse yourself, you should be able to wait until next week
No one will believe that, it’s too simplistic
Complexity is a singularity of simplicity, not the other way around
You’re escaping the topic, where are my ten times ?
At the bottom really. Because when you cut all the BS, there is really a lot of room for doers to do
I want numbers
No you don’t. You want results. You want actually useful products. You want them to work and to solve real problems. This is how you win. It is not possible to be efficient when the people in charge of defining a problem are not the one solving it
But I need numbers
Do not confuse between marketing and product. Do not intoxicate yourself with the message you are trying to sell. A product is real, just like value and income. And these are the only two numbers you should care about
Ho I see now, you are just a frustrated engineer wanting to prove something and get more power
I’m not an engineer, I am a thinker
Yeah right, just one more geek that knows it all and wants to decide …
Truth is, doers don’t need decision, doers need information, doers need actual knowledge of the real situation. There is no way around it. Doers will make choices. It is on you if you intoxicated them to a point where they only take the bad ones. In practice decisions belongs to the collective, not the individual
Oh, horizontal management, this is not new …
Nothing is new, we are not inventing brains here
That was easy …
You cannot imagine how badly a scientist needs a designer, how badly a technician needs a marketer, how badly an organisation needs administrators, how badly every skill is needed to actually achieve something. Now who built walls in the first place ? Doers ? I don’t think so
Wait, are you saying that managers are useless ?
Quite the opposite. Doers need you for what you do, not for anything else. And by doing, I don’t necessarily mean baking concrete. Thinking is doing, being kind is doing, owning your shit is doing
What’s not then ?
Not doing is essentially not owning your shit. That is to unload your own insecurity on people around you. That is pretending instead of being. That is making it impossible for doers to do
My investor just shouted at me for the whole weekend, do you find it easy ?
Truly not. But this is your shit. Own it. Turn it into more doing, more do-ability, and those conversations will end up by themselves. The greater mistake would be to destroy instead of create
Okay, but what can I do then ?
Be epic
How ?
By all means
What does it mean ?
Epic Win, Epic Loose. Anything in between is just pure loss of time