THE NEW NEW

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do - is ignore them. Because they changed things. They pushed the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world … are the ones who do.” – ‘Think Different’, Apple Campaign

My Real World University continues.

This incoming 2nd semester, I’ll be teaching an elective in the Ateneo College. After a few meetings, discussions, paperwork, and a mock-up class, my proposed subject is being programmed into the system, and my hiring papers are being processed. Barring any major complications, I’ll be having my class every Thursday 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm, which I feel is still manageable given that it’s only a once-a-week commitment, and the fact that I certainly have more control over my time nowadays.

The elective I’ll be teaching is something new. It’s called “Business Innovation Management” (the original name, “Innovation and Creativity” was admittedly rather too general, unpointed, and vague). Given that it’s a new subject, I had to build the syllabus/modules from scratch, which actually turned out to be fun. As the Department Chair said, “A class on Innovation has to be in itself innovative.” I couldn’t agree more, and I took that as a semi-blank check to propose a class that would be as ‘different’ as possible.

If I have a soft spot in my heart for certain advocacies, then my head is consumed by the possibilities of imbuing Innovation and Creativity everywhere. It’s not only something I want to learn, breathe, and experience more of, it’s something I want to actively teach and impart, starting with inarguably some of the best and brightest minds in this country (yes, my blue blood spilling all over here).

I think it’s because the way I see it, we’re in desperate need of NEW new ideas. That’s not a typo, it’s really New x 2. Because our current crop of ‘new ideas’ aren’t really new, if you think about it. We live in a culture of “copy-and-paste” and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What was the last product or service or business or suggestion that made you stop and scratch your head, unconsciously thought-bubbling, “Why didn’t I think of that?” I’m not pompously nor self-righteously saying that there aren’t leading lights out there, but they are admittedly few and far in between. More often that not, the comfort zone is to be generically undifferentiated, to seek shelter in the refuge of the herd. Think back - during the peak of their popularity, just how many Litson Manok stands, Shawarma stalls, and Zagu stations did people rush and latch onto, creating conditions wherein supply immediately outstripped demand, causing the total market to erode?

Again. We need NEW new ideas. After all, whatever happened to Filipinos’ innate talent of being truly creative and imaginative?

“We will speak less and less about ‘developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries’ but more and more about ‘smart, smarter, and smartest countries’ “ – Sir John Royce

In an era of globalization and hypercompetition, the ability to innovate is no longer a competitive advantage; it if fast-becoming the minimum cost-of-entry just in order to be able to join the game.

We need freshness, boldness, breakthroughs if we want to be successful not only as individuals, but also collectively as a country. Newsweek’s special issue on the Knowledge Revolution has an article by Thomas Friedman called ‘The Exhausting Race for Ideas’ and he said “The power of ideas would trump the might of armies in world affairs”. Whoa. We need to redefine our paradigms. We need to have a stronger appetite for risk. We need to go for the new new.

And in risking and going for the new new, we need to assume already that we’ll undoubtedly end up leaving a litter of carcasses of failed ideas behind our path; It’s a given. But the flipside is the certainty that we will end up with a few goldmines along the way.

“You can’t use an old map to find new land” – Gary Hamel

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I got interested in this space because the company I used to work for had innovation in its lifeblood. It not only had world-class systems, processes, and knowledge - it also actively fostered a culture of innovation. But most importantly, the people in the organization not only lived and breathed that culture, they in themselves were brilliantly leading-edge to begin with.

I remember when I was tasked to form an internal project team and had a relatively free hand to invite whom I wanted. I didn’t have a systematic checklist and used only my gut; I recruited on the basis of people’s passion - no thorough analysis nor background check nor functional requirements. My interview process was an informal ‘just-bumped-into-you-along-the-hallway’ kind of thing. And in the course of the conversation, when i literally saw how the person’s eyes lit when I would talk about certain topics, I knew that this person ‘got it’, and that I wanted and needed him/her on the team. I guess in hindsight, i was really looking for the crazy ones.

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So here’s to you crazy ones. May there be more and more and more of you in the generations to come.