IG Live: For the Innovators
“Innovate or die.” It’s both thrilling and terrifying.
But it’s necessary.
How do we find originality? How do we become the OG of _(blank)_ thing that is brand new and not yet seen by the world?
It might seem like there are these just incredibly creative people who magically bring new ideas to life. But it’s more likely than not that they have learned how to generate ideas and that they practice idea generation by following a set of rules or exercises during time that they make possible for exploration. Or—- they’ve decided to change something about their situation that they didn’t like.
So where do ideas come from? Inspiration. They come from a spark. A spark that leads us to ask: I wonder if….?
Innovators find a way to ACT on that wonder. They make time. The rest of this conversation and the following suggestions below are useless if you can’t or won’t make time to wonder. I’m serious. Serious about allowing ourselves time to wonder.
Here are some ways that you can introduce yourself to situations where you are inspired and curious. These are exercises for inspiring wonder. Ultimately, you will have to be the “mad scientist” that digs in and makes time for wonder. You’ll have to give up a piece of your world and make room to wonder.
Three paths:
THIS thing bugs me. (When you’re suffering through something, write it down)
I can’t grow the plants I know are out there. (Farmer Bailey Plugs)
Soil blocking takes too long. (Swift blocker)
Ordinary to Extraordinary. (What is boring?)
Corsages are ordinary. (Sue McCleary)
Zinnias are ordinary. (Erin Benzakein) Sunflowers are ordinary. (Sunflower Steve)
Intentional Inspiration - (I’m not sure what I want to do, I’m going to explore.)
•Who are your heroes? What are they doing/making? What happens if you made a mash up of their processes/work?
What is Taylor Swift + Sarah Hestor Ross…but make it flower farmer?
What is Dale Chihuly + someone who makes vegetables that grow in molds?
What is Mr. Rogers + “Humans of NY” + flowers?
•Out of industry inspo. My flowers + _________ = new creation. Look at www.thisiscolossal.com. Get lost. Find an obsession. Consider what might come next for that artist and do it in flowers.
In this part of the presentation, we specifically examined this blog post on This is Colossal: In Meticulous Detail, Antonio Santín’s Hyperrealistic Oil Paintings Undulate with Vibrant Textures
I also mentioned this Colossal post: Icy Mushroom Clouds Spring from a Tiny Geyser in Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains .
•”Center time” “Try all the ways” Put something out there- collect every possible type of that thing that you can find. And then try every single kind of action you can think of using ONLY it and supporting supplies.
Collect a bunch of stems of stock. Take some completely apart. Separate all the parts. Eat it. Make a recipes with it. Tea? Press it. Dry it. Powder it. Cover a surface with it, string it, make a fleece jacket with it (it looks soft), freeze it, make a time lapse,
There is ONE necessary ingredient for innovation: time.
You have to go “mad scientist” on your idea. That takes time. You might have to put yourself in a different space and take away all distractions and do your thing! You might have to work on it at night. You might have to say “this is more important than weeding or bumping up or harvesting today.” You’ll need to find your zone and dig in. I hope you enjoy it. This is permission to get lost in something you are curious about!
CASE STUDIES
Case Study: Susan McCleary
Take last week’s posts by Susan McCleary. Have you seen them? Incredible. Symmetrical, star shaped arrangements using a new kind of armature she designed and is bringing to the world. It’s surely going to boost enrollment in her Virtual Studio program by catching the eye and interest of her audience— curious and creative florists. But that wasn’t always her audience. Sue had a background in fashion and floristry. She was bored with the traditional elastic band corsage. And decided to see if it could be more.
Skills: fashion design
Tired of: standard corsage construction
Wonders: can I make this more fashion-forward? Can I apply what I know about art and design to do this diffferently?
Case Study: Bailey Hale
You’re probably familiar with Bailey Hale and Farmer Bailey plugs. How did this company come to be? Bailey had been an event florist. He moved to Vermont and started growing flowers and low and behold, he couldn’t find the varieties of flowers he was used to having access to on the conventional market. He decided to figure out why and change it.
Skills: Insider conventional floral experience
Tired of: Limited variety options for cut flower growers
Wonders: How can I bring those things that I know exist to this realm?