Innovation as Future

Positive mental attitude is not automatic for a lot of people. The exact opposite is much more probable. Living life each day follows routines, of course, but we encounter opportunities to expand our experience and understanding of broader issues. In fact such opportunities abound. They are there to see, feel, some to taste, but all to experience and see how they fit into our lives.

I recall when debit cards were first available. It took a while for me to adopt using a debit card, but once I did I realized my check book was with me at all times in the form of a plastic card. I could visit any gas station convenient to me and fill up with the secure knowledge my card would be accepted at the pump. The sense of freedom was huge.

I later learned to use the card in place of credit cards as often as I could. Restaurants, point of sale purchases. Drug store, grocery store, the whole lot of consumer outlets! I was free from ever having exact change again in most places. And the transactions were not on my credit card churning out interest charges.

The only drawback was balancing the check book!

Anyway, debit cards to me were a quality of life improvement. But not for everyone. There were then and still remain huge numbers of people who refuse to use debit cards. They live without the excitement of the convenience.

4G and 5G cell phones are another advancement. Sure a gazillion people are using them globally but we all know people who refuse to adopt the technology. I was one of them until recently.

With my old phone balking at seemingly simple uses and Rocky’s phone requiring frequent rebootings, he examined alternative offers and came across a service offering us two 4G phones with unlimited data and minutes. The price was surprisingly the exact same as our two old bills combined. The family plan played very well into our budget. Better service, more service, no increase in price.

So then I had to learn to use my phone. Making calls and receiving them was simpler and faster. Surpassing that surprise I learned how to read my emails while not at home. I was even able to answer them on the spot! Communications improved exponentially with this one improvement. Then I discovered texting, something I had truly resisted. But now it was simple, fast and direct. Another exponential improvement in communication behavior. Also, applications multiplied and now I have the ability to find myself when lost, pull myself our of the wrong building and get on the pathway to find the correct one! I even know where Rocky is and he knows where I am.

I came home the other day after a meeting late. I had told him I was going to get new business cards printed. When I walked in the door he exclaimed, “You had to go to three print shops to find one to help you?”  Yep, surprised I asked him how he knew of my adventure. He pointed to the phone and said it pinged each time I left the car. He tracked my progress around the western suburbs in search of a printer who would take my order. I found myself back and my old print shop who has always served me well. They found the electronic graphic designs online and made up my cards in less than 24 hours. Fab!

I also learned how to build a calendar on my computer and share it with my phone. And now I can make appointments, alter them as well, from my phone and my computer. One transaction takes care of it all wherever I am. I had watched others do this for a few years and marveled at their convenience. Now I am doing the same.

This is not innovation. This is me adapting to innovation.

Now, the innovation may be real and available but it is also not used by a lot of people. And that is the point of this post. Innovation unused is no innovation at all.

As we survey the landscape of our economy and note vast numbers of people out of jobs and looking fruitlessly for new employment, we wonder why they cannot find a good paying job. I have concluded that most often these good people have failed themselves by not participating in the burgeoning innovations all around them. These advancements are not fads in the main. They are quality of life improvements and productivity gains, too. Employers expect each of us to be productive and adaptable to new experiences. Shirking innovation is not the way ahead in any career.

We have entire new industries that are going unobserved by millions of people. And those same people wonder why they are not getting ahead.

Look, I have trouble with modern technology. I understand the barriers. But the true barrier is within the person and the way they think. Modern technology draws us outside of our selves and into the world. This is how the world lives. And we must engage it. It is not just a behavior.

It is a life skill.

And so it goes. Adapt and change how your brain works in seeing and processing ideas. It is nothing short of revolutionary. We live lives of change. Always have. The only difference today is the pace of change. The pace is fast. Sometimes instantaneous.

That is the challenge our society must navigate: adapt quickly and learn the advantages of change. Then take it and use it to make your own changes for your life and for others.

Think better. Adapt. And prosper.

Now say we all Amen!

May 5, 2016