Innovation: A new idea, device or method. The application of solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated need or existing market needs.
Stifle: To suppress, curb, withold.
I recently watched a video where a candidate contending for a political post shared his views on Nigerians and innovation. He said that he believes, and I quote
"Nigerians do not have the intellect to be inventors or innovators"
He went further to state that if one were to give a Nigerian all he needed to build a new camera, ten years would go by and he/she would still not be able to figure it out.
If you are Nigerian, you should be used to politicians spewing trash based on zero logic
It wouldn't be the first time, after all, we only just got over the whole 'lazy youth' saga.
But his ignorant words made me ponder, and I did see some traps that alot of Nigerians fall into that can, and does stifle innovation. There are, of course, the obvious reasons for a lack of innovation, creativity and growth, but I'll be exploring the things that we may not even know we are caught up in that limits innovation.
Note: These habits, if practiced by any human being can and will stifle innovation. I focus on Nigeria because I live here
Before I begin listing them I'll say this
Nigerians are one of the smartest people in the world
I'm not saying this based on sentiment. There are facts to back up my statement. Feel free to Google Search the Nigerian doctor who brought a baby out of its mother's womb at 23 weeks old, removed a tumor and then placed the baby back in.[] The woman gave birth to a healthy child 36 weeks later. Or you can search for the smartest family in the whole of England(you guessed it) it's a Nigerian family.[]
Nigerians perform amazingly well when given the opportunity, and when they have the right attitude.
That being said, let's roll.
Reluctance to learn before starting out
"Once you stop learning, you stop growing"
(I'm sure somebody important said that, if not then you saw it here first).
Surprisingly, a lot of people do not take time out to find out as much information as they can about the businesses or start-ups they undertake, prior to beginning. I once read a book about making money and building successful businesses, and one of the author's key points was, and I quote:
"Mind your business"
He later explained how that meant finding out everything there is to know about whatever field one chooses to go into. The very same thing applies here. This involves watching the current market leaders, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, noticing what they may be omitting, etc.
Three years ago I tried starting a clothing line and I made this mistake; I rushed into production. Thankfully I was smart enough to make a sample first which I showed to some friends, and their feedback showed me that I had a lot to learn. So I started reading up, I watched videos from people who had their own lines, I read up about cost and quality, types of fabrics and a lot of other useful information. After reading up I started reaching out to fabric manufacturers and wholesalers, and I was baffled when I found out that I now knew more about fabrics than most of them did. I would ask if they had some types of fabrics or some combinations, and some of them had no idea what I was talking about because, unfortunately, they didn't learn about their business field either. I ended up shelving that venture as another thing peaked my interest.
Fast forward three years to me having a conversation with a friend where he tells me about his successful clothing retail store and his thoughts on launching his line of urban clothing. I tell him everything I had done and all I had learned, and the very next morning I get a text from him saying he wants me to be his product manager. Do I know some well kept secret for clothing success? Nope, but I knew enough for him to want to work with me.
The point of my story is this: taking time out to learn gives you an added advantage, no matter how good you think you already are
My friend wasn't impressed by what I had done(trust me, it wasn't much), he was impressed by what I had learned.
note:knowledge can be useless if not applied, so as you 'learn' also 'try'
Too much focus on the finance
Money doesn't always make the world go round.
We all want to make money, and making money while doing what you love is the dream. But care has to be taken not to make money the goal, especially at the early stages of your business or startup. For innovation to thrive, the focus has to be on the science or the art or the functionality of whatever you may be doing for the betterment of everyone. Money has a way of shifting our perspective to more of a profit-based model where we're thinking which product would make the most sales, instead of do the most good. Innovation requires discomfort, the need for a change and a disruption that will not happen when money is the prime focus.
You may get mouth watering offers along the way, and I'm not saying don't take them, but try to weigh the options first, especially if you're at the frontier of your field. We all know that the bottom line of most large corporations is their bottom line(see what I did there!), and there's a possibility that your new invention or creation may be swept under the rug if it doesn't add to that bottom line. So as tempting as selling your startup(especially if tech-related) may be, it may not always be the best option. The same goes for other fields. I would encourage sharing your findings with all and not just the highest bidder.
Working to impress
Are they watching? How about now?
When you're really skilled at anything, you're bound to impress people. And there's nothing wrong with that. The problem starts when it becomes the main focus. People who live to impress are afraid to fail, and anyone who is afraid to fail never tries anything new(it's as simple as that).
Our minds are never really focused when we don't do things for the right reasons(so let's just say the main point here is "working for the wrong reasons).
There are a million and one reasons why we'd want to be admired, and everybody, in one way or the other, wants to be recognized. But sometimes we can be so focused on showing that we can do something that we get lost trying to prove rather than to improve
Pride
My mother always said:
Pride goes before a fall
(what a wise sage)
Sometimes as we grow, our ego grows with us. Quite a number of people, after starting businesses and gaining a little traction are no longer willing to listen to inputs and criticism from others, constructive or otherwise, especially if they feel the input-giver is not up to a certain "standard" conjured in their minds.
While we should be careful who we take advice from, we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss people either. It's easy to succeed at something and think you're on top of the world and that you know all there is to know about it, but (and I'm sure it should be obvious by now) that's false. I once saw a movie, and in this movie a kid met a kung-fu master(no, it's not karate kid) and he wanted the master to teach him. He kept on showing the master all the moves he had, until a point where the master fell silent and focused on brewing his tea. The kid, having noticed that his master no longer shared his enthusiasm, asked what the problem was, the master responded:
How can I teach you Kung Fu when you already know so much? You cannot add to a cup that is already full.
We need to be empty enough to add more knowledge. We need to realize that we don't know enough in order to accept criticism and to remember that however good we are at what we do, there will always be a place where we're lacking, where we can always do better. This mindset keeps us all from being prideful, and keeps us striving for something better. [more on pride]. If our pride isn't in check, we could end up with a negative thought pattern(you can then kiss innovation goodbye).
Mental Laziness
We only get better when we are faced with challenges, that's why crisis and adversity are the best agents of innovation. We stop challenging ourselves when we get too comfortable with where we are. For innovation to thrive, there has to be a hunger for better things, we cannot get comfortable with wherever we are. A lazy mind accepts mediocrity.
Did you know that about 90-95% of your thoughts are controlled by your subconscious? That leaves about 10% to your conscious mind. And even with that, we can still fall into the habit of letting our conscious mind run on autopilot a lot of the time. On an average, 70% of our thoughts are already either negative or redundant.[]
Allowing your conscious mind run on autopilot is very unhelpful. we can't afford to be mentally/intellectually lazy
Flip on the switch of your conscious mind and learn to examine your thoughts
Having a mindset that believes that something better can still be achieved, and that whatever we have now can be improved upon will make you keep challenging yourself, and growing.
Doubts, Worries, Insecurities
Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts
We can't control everything, so we shouldn't even try. The best we can do is to do our best(i'm on a roll here). If you can't do something, find someone who can, and let them do it. Micro-managing everything will wear you out, leaving you feeling frustrated and you may start to doubt your capacity to achieve.
Obviously there are way more innovation-limiting traps, we can totally talk about them in the comments.
You wanna discuss ways to curb these? Hit me up in the comments
Have any additions, subtractions, grievances?(i hope not, but still) Comments.
I would love to know what you think.
Also, I just want to say that Nigerians are making strides. We may not be creating new tech just yet, but we're catching up quickly.
I think this applies to everyone regardless of creed, nationality, even planetary habitation(i told the Martians first).
sources:
Psychologist world]
BET]
One With The Now]
The Wired Bug]
My brain(not a website)