Do you look at the world differently? Do you see the world not as it is, but as it could be? Are you open to curiosity, to wonder, to possibility? Then maybe you are the unreasonable people we need to lead into the future.
There seem to be an increasing number of problems and challenges in the world that require creative and persistent men and women to take them on. “It’s time to get your unreasonable on.”
The following thoughts are taken from an article by Brian Solis, Head of Global Innovation, ServiceNow when he interviewed Jony Ive. We think that these ideas are applicable to many of the challenges we are currently facing in our community, our state, US, and the world. We hope it will inspire you to think creatively and be moved to action regarding those problems and challenges you care about.
When you have an idea, are you dissuaded by the problems they present? Iconic Apple and LoveFrom design, Jony Ive, has some words of advice for you. Ive is the former design head of Apple and the cofounder of LoveFrom, a small collective of creators. Ive is an obsessive student of design and the creative process.
When someone challenges your idea, it's often because they only see the problems it faces, not its potential for value creation. It's a mindset. It's also a mindset that accepts that challenge to see through the problems toward the solution. It's how you unlock possibility. And it's an art.
And the process for having an idea and bringing it to life is the "biography of an idea." Mr. Solis calls it, a "mindshift." It's the ability to see a way forward when others only see the walls that keep them from leaving their comfort zones. "It's about your relationship with knowledge, with dogma and with opportunity," Jony Ive shared in a conversation with Anna Wintour, Vogue's transformational editor-in-chief.
Do you accept that problems represent a closed door, or do you seek answers that unlock opportunity? You'll never know if you if you don't try to solve the problems.
"The difference between an idea and a product is that you’ve solved the problems," Ive observes. "When someone says to me, 'Well, you can’t do this for these reasons,' all it means is that there are problems to be solved. If they can be solved, the idea transitions into becoming a thing. If they can’t, it remains an idea," he concludes.
One of Ive's favorite quotes is from Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw. It goes, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
Jony Ive is such, an unreasonable man. And to create against problems to be solved and opportunities to create, we too, must become unreasonable. We must recognize when dogma is the impeding problem and not the problems that can otherwise be solved.
It's how you look at the world. It's how you perceive the world. It's how open you are to curiosity, to wonder, to possibility. So, who is the next unreasonable woman or man? If you've read this far, then the answer is, you. In Ive's own words, you'll find validation.
"I think one of the most important attributes or traits of a creative team, of a creative individual, is being curious and inquisitive, constantly," he believes. "With a real ferocious appetite for learning and being comfortable, and being surprised, and excited when you're surprised, that you've learned something new."
Camp BizSmart Alumni are some of the most optimistic, creative, and persistent individuals we know. The ZOG: Zest, Optimism and Grit that they have developed and demonstrate are exactly what is needed in the world today. We have launched the CampBizSmart Alumni Network to continue to support and inspire this remarkable group of individuals throughout their academic and career years. We invite all alumni to sign up now by filling out the Alumni form on our website (add page link here ) to reconnect and to stay up to date on the latest news. We look forward to hearing from you!
Be curious. Be inquisitive. Be optimistic. Be unreasonable.
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