You see, this isn’t an idea someone told me they needed, it’s something I’d like to see in the world therefore it doesn’t have a direct comparison. They wanted to take the easy way out, which means doing the most obvious thing that won’t be the most challenging. Other people were involved at the beginning, but they are no longer in the project because to them “there is no clear path” to achieving the outcome. This venture is very much a “breakthrough” for me, it’s been in my head for almost three years and it’s become an itch I need to scratch. I’ve been working on a new venture for almost a year now. The vast majority of people get overwhelmed by challenging ideas, it makes them uncomfortable that there isn’t a clear way to reach an outcome. One of them is the drive to do challenging work. Though innovation is very much a team game, all innovators share a common set of traits. Which is why you see so many copycats the ideas simply don’t pose a challenge to existing beliefs and infrastructure. Basically, anyone with some capability and positioning can execute those. I categorize incremental “easy way out” ideas as the ones that make the most sense but are not in any way challenging to anyone. If you keep doing things the same way you’ve always done them, you’ll never grow much less innovate. In the case of the 4 minute mile, Roger Bannister aimed to break that record. I’m quite sure that strategies that are born from a perspective of loss aversion are typically aimed at playing not to lose instead of aiming to win. So, the fear of losing what you have, loss aversion, is a powerful bias that contributes to a fixed mindset when it comes to challenging the status-quo. Startups are competent at disrupting, challenging established processes and perspectives the stuff that may lead to breakthroughs. Big companies are competent at optimizing the core, incremental ideas. I’ve previously written that it’s hard to get excited about incremental ideas because most of the time you already know what they are that next extension. I believe that those of us with a growth mindset have a hard time getting excited about small ideas. The limits we put on ourselves are in our heads, in the mental models we carry with us and in the attitude with which we approach things growth and fixed mindsets. It may sound like a cliche, but it is true. As it pertains to challenges, “It’s all in how you look at it” is a common refrain when talking about how to see what nobody sees. Innovation is as much about attitude and perspective as it is about process. The four minute mile barrier Roger Bannister broke back in 1954 has since been surpassed by almost 17 seconds, 3:43.13 the current record. When that limit was broken, the others saw they could do something they had previously thought impossible. The runners of the past had been held back by a mindset that said they could not surpass the 4 minute mile. What happened in those three years? Was there a sudden growth spurt in human evolution? Was there a genetic engineering experiment that created a new race of super runners? No, the equipment was the same. Within three years, 16 other runners had also broken this record. Two months later, in Finland, Bannister’s record was broken by John Landy, who achieved a time of 3 minutes 58 seconds. Until May 1954, Roger Bannister shattered this barrier, running the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Until 1954, the four minute mile was something beyond human comprehension, and thus beyond human achievement. Here’s why “being uncomfortable” is a good sign that you are on the right track… The 4 minute mile If none of them hit you in the gut and make you gasp for air, then you have a serious issue on your hands. Quick, make a list of the biggest and boldest projects in your company.
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