Real-Time Innovation ... the Opposite of Zombi-ism

[Jennifer Ann Gordon]

Innovation - as is everything else that's real and valuable -- only takes place in the NOW. Innovation is always real-time. Dwelling in the past or the future bogs us down, and pulls us away from the present opportunities.
Without consciously acknowledging and receiving the good right now, we cannot innovate within our companies or our lives.

Sometimes, I plow through my days without taking the time to receive the gifts handed me ... to consciously acknowledge them and say, "Thank you." To digest. To breathe. To rejoice. To feel the WOW of everything taking place. To trust the process of gestation.

"Shaun of the Dead," the parody of the zombie movie, "Dawn of the Dead," comes to mind. When I allow myself to be pulled out of the now by anxiety or the biz world madness that doing is more important and profitable and establishes our worth more than being, then I feel like a zombie, the walking dead.

On these days, I throw my schedule, events and body around like a satchel separate from myself. My goal becomes the destination rather than the journey. And this zaps all the joy, life, passion out of me. No fun.

Fortunately, I've grown quite sensitive to these times and feel "off track" pretty quickly. Then I stop in my tracks, regroup, breathe, and take a moment to consciously receive all the gifts I'm given. And ... I've learned that the challenges presented me are also gifts. So I receive this challenges as opportunities to learn.

Taking things for granted is the antithesis of innovation. It dulls our ability to receive, to recognize open doors, and to embrace challenges as opportunities. Taking things for granted is like eating but never tasting, being in a huge field of flowers, but never smelling.

To consciously acknowledge and receive the good present -- to receive the challenges as opportunities to learn -- to say, "thank you," to breathe, and to take the time to delight in the juiciness of life, opens the way for innovation, creativity, and fun. This is the way of the entrepreneur and intrapreneur.