Mindset Jolt #6 – Fuel innovation with values, not just value

Welcome to our Conscious Innovator® process!

Are you ready for a new, insight-provoking “Jolt” … something that challenges conventional thinking about the "right" mindset for being innovative? It's not that the conventional understanding is wrong - just limited.

Jolts wake us up. They emphasize a shift of focus that taps into a deeper, more expansive consciousness. The result can be profound insights into yourself and others that bring out your full, innovative potential, whether in small, daily tasks or major projects. 

Jolt #6: Fuel innovation with values, not just value

When it comes to innovation, there is an important distinction between “value” versus “values” (with an “s”). “Value” refers to the tangible and intangible benefits derived as a result of our innovative efforts. “Values” refers to the motivating factors that inform and energize those efforts.

Our values shape our answers to 3 key questions: “Why are we innovating?” “What do we want to innovate?” and “How should we innovate?” Thus, our values are the fuel for the entire “innovation” show!

Values drive value. But what drives values? For us, it depends on the “source” we draw from: human values or social values.

We define human values as the positive qualities of good character found across cultures and time, based on our higher human nature – values such as caring, honesty, doing no harm, trust, and keeping promises. Whereas social values are the qualities that enculturate and bond us within our diverse cultures. Sometimes social values reflect human values, and sometimes they don’t.

When we choose human values as the source for motivating and guiding our innovative efforts, they propel us to patiently seek higher wisdom, grow as a human being, and be bold yet humble in thought, word, and action.

And yet… we know that trying to preach or push an agenda of human values when we’re innovating doesn’t work. So, what does?

A good example is Lars Kolind, the CEO of Oticon, a global hearing aid company. Here’s how he led the company through a crucial period of innovating and revitalizing its future:

“What inspired me was the fact that we were dealing with people who had enormous personal problems due to lack of hearing. This led me to see that fundamentally our job was to add to the quality of life of those we served.

“We examined every corner of the company, and I asked the question a hundred times: ‘Does this help people with impaired hearing to live better with the hearing they have, or does it not?’ We were closing departments and initiating projects in order to actually live this.

 “It turned out to be a fabulous expression of what we stood for. It was so powerful, even though it was not developed by any marketing people, or consultants, or advertising agencies. It was from working again and again on the question, ‘What can we do? What should we do?’”

Lars Kolind tapped into the potency of asking “human values” questions to fuel their innovative efforts. Such human values questions are the onramp to access our higher human nature and lead us to innovate in positive, meaningful ways. Such values are the source of true value.

-=-=-=- Now it's your turn -=-=-=-

Being a Conscious Innovator® has a 3 phase cyclical process: become aware, capable, and versatile. Try on this Jolt in your life and work, then take self-reflective time to engage in the process:

-=-=-=- An invitation to join our process and share your insights -=-=-=-

If you haven’t already, we’d love for you to join our process and share your own experiences, while learning from the experiences of others! We appreciate what one person said about the Jolt process itself:

Innovation is a world by itself. It can change lives and help people become more positive. Doing a Jolt is already something! A new habit that promotes innovation and reflection.

It’s totally FREE to participate. To sign up and join us, go to this link and follow the easy directions: https://innovate.vci.global/p/the-conscious-innovator. 

Even if you haven’t participated up to this point, it’s never too late to start the process! It’s like a concise gym workout that provides an insightful “pause that refreshes” and evokes your unique, innovative potential in life and work.