Ad Hoc Innovation Leads to Ad Hoc Results: A Consistent Approach to Innovation Is Essential to Future Proof Your Company.
When I was a postgraduate student I had the great privilege to spend some time in the University of Queensland's Fryer Library to examine Peter Carey's original manuscripts for the novel, Oscar and Lucinda. The purpose of my research was to study the author's writing practice. Through six boxes of archived materials I was able to observe patterns in the writer's daily habits and his approach to creating a major new work from the kernel of an idea to the finished novel.
Peter Carey's practice is to sit down to his typewriter at 9:00 am each day and to write at least 4 pages. Some days it would be many more. Many ideas would be captured in initial notes, but only some would be further developed and end up as part of the final work. Ideas, plot threads, even character names and the name of the story itself could change many times during the development of the novel.
Even if your work is not about writing novels, what you can learn from Peter Carey is that creative work requires daily practice. Professional creative artists don't sit around waiting for inspiration. They schedule time to explore and develop ideas as part of their every day work. For innovation to be effective, working with new ideas needs to be part of daily practice, not a sporadic or ad hoc activity.
What daily practice can you schedule time to explore and develop? I'd love to know.
Learn more about the smarts you need to succeed in your asset management career with my free video series.
