One of the Secrets of Innovation is
Ethan Zuckerman’s "What you have matters more than what you lack."
Although I picked a different one as my favorite I wanted to share some thoughts on a specific aspect of this Zuckerman's statement. One thing that we need to focus on in terms of what we have is the power to control. We often waste much time and resources fighting to control things that we simply cannot.
For instance if climate change has altered your ecosystem enough to the point that their is too much moisture to grow your usually crop and be profitable, yelling at a storm cloud isn't going to make it stop raining.
What can be controlled is 1. Seeking different crops that thrive in high moisture environments, and 2. Urging your community to adopt better environmental practices to help fight any negative repercussions our impact on the Earth may be.
While I understand that this can sometimes clash with other SOI (Secrets of Innovation) such as "think like a child" as it means imposing certain limits on your thought process it can be helpful because these new constraints mesh with another SOI from Zuckerman: "Innovation comes from constraint" To think outside of the box you first need to know where the box is so you know whether or not you are in or outside of it!
The conflicts and strengths of the multiple SOI's brings to light the strength of diversity. How can you think like a child but have these constraints? The simple answer is you cant (simple answers is part of another SOI) and the simple solution is that two people working together can. That is the value of diversity in perspective, because that way we can collaborate and cover all angles of a situation and then decide what is the best solution available.
I look forward to Evoking with all of you to gain access to your perspectives so we can more clearly see the problems we face.
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