Whether in business or academia, there are usually far more good ideas than there is time and\u00a0money\u00a0to explore them. So decisions must be made about who and what will get the limited funds to proceed with a novel idea. In science, these decisions are made via grants and research funding boards. In corporations, these decisions are usually made by executives and middle managers. And for many startups, these decisions are made by venture capitalists and angel investors who network with founders\u00a0and review\u00a0business plans and “pitch decks”.<\/p>\n
As a result, the culture usually\u00a0becomes\u00a0competitive<\/strong>. Researchers compete for limited funds, corporate teams compete for executive approval, and startups compete for venture financing.\u00a0In some ways, this is like any other market economy. “May the best idea\u00a0win.” The problem\u00a0is that\u00a0scarcity, pressure, and stress\u00a0inhibit creativity<\/strong>. Many studies have shown that under such conditions our minds tend to focus more narrowly, causing us to perform better at well-practiced\u00a0tasks but worse at generating new ideas.<\/p>\n By contrast, in order to be maximally creative, we need to be relaxed and feel that resources are abundant \u2014 basically the opposite of a competitive situation with\u00a0limited funds.<\/p>\n This is a major paradox\u00a0of our\u00a0innovation economy. The rewards of innovation are huge \u2014 businesses and scientific careers succeed or fail on the strength of their ability to innovate. But that very pressure causes\u00a0these innovators to underperform. The more desperately you want to innovate, the more difficult it is to do so.<\/p>\n For most\u00a0innovators stuck in an environment of scarcity, a\u00a0“jedi mind trick” is necessary, similar to\u00a0the one I wrote about in\u00a0The Paradox of Customer Focus<\/a>. Namely:\u00a0to innovate, stop trying so hard to innovate. Instead, relax, work on hard problems, and assume everything will work out. All while battling off requests for progress reports, 3-year plans, and reminders that your scarce funding and\u00a0position are\u00a0up for renewal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whether in business or academia, there are usually far more good ideas than there is time and\u00a0money\u00a0to explore them. So decisions must be made about who and what will get the limited funds to proceed with a novel idea. In science, these decisions are made via grants and research funding boards. In corporations, these decisions … <\/p>\n