3. Innovators refuse to believe that everything that can be done has been done.
There is a popular notion that “there’s nothing new under the sun.” It’s a passage from the Bible (probably) said by Solomon in the pit of depression.
But too many people repeat this phrase as some sort of mantra to release ourselves from the responsibility of forward movement, progress and invention. Talk to someone in the U.S. patent office who issued 277,835 Utility Patents in the year 2013. They’ll tell you there most certainly are new things under the sun.
4. Innovators refuse to believe “that’s just the way things are.”
There are systems, beliefs, processes and traditions that go unchecked and unquestioned everyday. Innovators are people who—even in the face of opposition—refuse to settle for the answer, “That’s just the way things are.”
I used to get so frustrated as a kid when I’d ask “why” and an adult would respond with “because” or “because I said so.” To an innovator, nothing is an accepted reality because everything can always be better.
5. Innovators are willing to take the risks no one else is willing to take.
Ingenuity, invention, creativity, passion—all these words can describe an innovator.
But more than any of these things, an innovator is characterized by the concept of risk. Innovators are the people around you who are willing to look silly for the sake of exploring something. Innovators go into unknown places first and illuminate them so that others feel safe following suit.
It’s easy to coast through life unnoticed. It’s easy to be quiet and go with the flow. But the world is getting better, and you and I have been invited not to sit around and watch, but to participate in the thriving of the universe.
