The Power of an External Mindset for Innovation

The Power of an External Mindset

Change, and Innovation is a lot like an ice cube.  Ice is a woderful metaphor, as one of the few substances that moves through three different states: solid, liquid, vapor.  In each phase change, the change happens at the edge, not in the core.  Because it's at the edge that the ice cube, the puddle or the vapor meets the outside world which is what drives the change.  Ice doesn't melt from the inside because the molecules are too tightly packed and are not exposed to the world around them.  The edge is where molecules get excited and change phase. The same is true about change, innovation and organizations.  Unless you get to the edges, and unless you see what's happening in the world around you, you will be unprepared to create, capitalize on, or even deal with change.  This document discusses that phenomena, how it relates to innovation, and some of the things you can do to leverage an External Mindset for successful innovation.