Why Fearlessness and Innovation Go Hand in Hand
On the Thanksgiving holiday in the US we embrace the idea of cataloguing all we are thankful for, and the milestones we have reached on our journey to success.
Along with thankfulness, the very #Stout notion of fearlessness in pursuing “what’s next” is exactly what can spark innovation – creatively, personally, or for a larger company goal or project.
We found some Stout inspiration on fearlessness and innovation in an article by Bryan Collins, author of The Power of Creativity, who writes about composer Hans Zimmer’s fearless way to kick off creativity on any new project he takes on.
Though Hans Zimmer is an accomplished composer who Hollywood directors and producers seek out, he still believes he must go through “a period of agony and torture” before achieving a breakthrough. He pushes himself to avoid fixed ways of thinking, and he advises new artists who want to do the same to try something new every day– to test the limits even to the absurd or outlandish and think of your creative project like a mountain. At the top of this mountain you can mine bizarre, outlandish and absurd ideas; at the bottom of this mountain you extract practical, relevant and logical ideas.
There’s a hidden place between the points of absurdity and relevancy in innovative ideas. Think of it like a secret forge where you can combine the novelty of the absurd with the applicability of the practical.
– Bryan Collins
#Stout Takeaways for Fearlessly Using Absurd Ideas to Spark Innovation
- The next time you’re struggling with a creative project, try to come up with as many absurd ideas as possible.
- Push past your point of comfort and cognitive biases. Have fun with ideas, explore hunches, and bring the unusual.
- Finally, sift through these discoveries and figure out what’s usable and what to put aside.
To spark innovation, be fearless, be bold, be as absurd as possible… then seek out what’s relevant and make it happen!