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Many of the most innovative ideas come from individuals who perceive reality differently from others and are willing to challenge conventional thinking. IT executives should encourage these iconoclasts, since they're the source of so many new ideas.
Also See:
How To Foster Innovation
What It Takes To Be An Innovator
By Ellen Pearlman
Strategic Thinker:
Gregory Berns
Credentials:
Berns is the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics at Emory University, where he is a professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Economics. He is one of the only board-certified psychiatrists in the U.S. who also has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. He specializes in the use of brain-imaging technologies to understand human motivation and decision-making.
Big Idea:
The most innovative ideas come from individuals who perceive reality differently from others.
Book:
Iconoclast: a neuroscientist reveals how to think differently published by Harvard Business Press, October 2008
Blog: plus2sd at Psychology Today
Iconoclast: a person who does something that others say cannot be done.
Iconoclasts see things differently than other people because their brains work differently in three critical functions: perception, fear response and social intelligence. Indeed, where many fear to go, iconoclasts boldly lead, creating new ways of doing things, building things and selling things to others. This special ability is something few are born with and only some learn. But those that have it are able to embrace novelty and create new opportunities that most people don't see, let alone achieve. And while iconoclasts thumb their nose at convention, they can be a "major asset to any organization," according to Dr. Gregory Berns, neuroscientist and author of Iconoclast.
Iconoclasts perceive the world around them differently. Perception is not about the workings of the eye-it is a reflection of how the mind and brain sort out what is seen. It's easier for the brain to process things that are familiar. When faced with uncommon perceptions the brain uses a different mode of processing to help it figure out what it is seeing. It usually takes some form of a surprise to force the brain out of seeing in predictable ways.
In fact, many of the great innovations began with an unexpected change in visual perception. "Sometimes the brain needs a kick start," says Berns. One example of this is the glass-blowing artist Chihuly who started to make asymmetric glass pieces only after he lost one eye. While most glass blowers prize symmetry in their work, Chihuly's handicap enabled him to see beauty in asymmetry. "The key to seeing like an iconoclast is to look at things that you have never seen before," says Berns. "Breakthroughs come from a perceptual system that is confronted with something that it doesn't know how to interpret." Even a simple change can help trigger this, such as traveling to a new place, a relocation, or meeting a new person.
When you imagine something uncommon that you've never seen before "the possibilities for creative thinking become much greater" because the brain cannot rely on connections created by past experiences, says Berns. To save energy, the brain takes shortcuts by categorizing information. According to Berns, a novel external stimulus "is required" to start the reconfiguration of neural networks in the brain.
Kary Mullis, for example, had his eureka moment driving up the northern coast of California in 1983. A breakthrough idea during that drive led him to arrive at the basic tenets of polymerase chain reactions and to a Nobel Prize in Chemistry 10 years later. "Only when you consciously confront your brain's reliance on categories will you be able to imagine outside of its boundaries," adds Berns.
Next: What Does Fear Have To Do With It?
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