Zen of Innovation

The Zen of Innovation Reflections on the Creativity of the Human Mind © interKnowledge Technologies

Bodhidharma Patriarch of zen buddhism Our nature is the mind. The mind is our nature. “ ”

“ ” Past mind can't be grasped, Present mind can't be grasped, Future mind can't be grasped. With which mind will you drink this tea? Zen master Dogen 1200 - 1253

Enso (Zen circle) symbolizes enlightenment, a “ mind moment ” of fundamental insight.

Innovation is in our nature The human need to explore, discover, decorate, dominate, conquer, protect, invent, tell stories and make magic goes all the way back to our origin as a species.

Both zen and innovation :
involve exploration and discovery
uncover latent possibilities
strive for a breakthrough

Innovation is driven not just by the need for business growth or market dominance, but also by the imagination , creativity and ingenuity of the human mind. “ ”

All innovation involves good ideas. Good innovation turns good ideas into good business “ ”

but what’s a good idea? Daruma (Bodhidharma) by Nakahara Nantenbo 1912

A good idea is simply an idea that, if implemented, will bring about something good. A really good idea is a good idea in which lie embedded the seeds of even better ones. “ ”

In business, a good idea
satisfies an existing demand in a new and better way
satisfies or creates a new demand
attracts resources and support for its implementation

All artists are creative. Some artists are also innovative, creating in ways that haven’t been done or seen before. “ Catalan Landscape ” Joan Mir ó 1893 - 1983 Creativity and Innovation are not the same

Pablo Picasso 1881 - 1973 Co-inventor of cubism “ ” When we discovered cubism, we did not have the aim of discovering cubism. We only wanted to express what was in us. “ The Guitar Player ” Pablo Picasso 1910

Whatever learning there may be in zen , it comes from our own mind D. T. Suzuki Zen author & scholar D. T. Suzuki 1870 - 1966 “ ”

Creative thinking requires focusing on a problem followed by “defocusing”, i.e. relaxing and letting the mind wander on its own, creating opportunities for sudden insights to occur.

In zen, koans and mondos are used to exhaust and disable the analytical mind, paving the way for (existential) insight.

An innovation mondo What is a good idea? Yes What do you mean? No I don’t understand Neither do I

Insight is preceded by, but is not the result of, logical effort. It comes suddenly out of “nowhere” and with a feeling of absolute certainty. “ Nowhere” is the creative mind associated with the right hemisphere of the brain. The eureka moment

prefrontal cortex left brain logical right brain creative analysis connect focus relax insight Creative Thinking

The mind has many “dots” that can be connected in many ways, forming many patterns.

Creativity is about having more dots to connect Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple “ ”

In groups, diversity in thinking involves multiple experiences, perspectives, expertise and thinking styles.

Creative thinking takes time. The mind needs time to “soak” in the problem.

A person who never has time to think , may turn into a thoughtless person. Likewise, an organization that doesn’t have time to think, may turn into a thoughtless organization “ ”

In the creative process, we cannot tell when we will be finished, but we will know when we are Anders Hemre interKnowledge Technologies Brainovation Blog [email_address] “ ”

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Zen of Innovation

by Anders Hemre on Jan 11, 2009

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