Why William James was an innovator?

I´ve been extensively talking on innovation for the last weeks, both with individuals and with groups. The most common reaction you find in these cases is the belief that innovation is another technique. The real thing is that innovation is closer to an art than to a technique. This is for innovation taken radically will always deal with a sense of vertigo, of chaos and of lack of control.

Many companies feel fear or even reject such an idea. It is true, you don´t have to be innovative if you don´t want, it´s up to you. You can even manage your company in a very responsible and polished way. You can even try to "structure" innovation and that can even be a fuze for corporate morale and energy.

What most structural approaches ignore is that

Social world is a world in becoming, not a world in being, and for that reason, studies of social structure as such are irrelevant.

Victor Turner

When it comes to radical innovation things are less structural, though more cinetic. There it emerges a common atmosphere that permits the spontaneous flowering of ideas and "brand actions". How this atmosphere affects the souls of constituents can be proved by the accounts of people who have lived in such conditions. Let´s recall here the family atmosphere of William James:

He grew up in a circle in which heresies were more gladly tolerated than orthodoxies. Men like his father and his father´s friends, who were attracted to Fourierism, communism, homeopathy, women´s rights, abolition and spiritism, were not likely to have any prejudices against mediumship, clairvoyance, mesmerism, automatic writing, and crystal gazing. From his youth, James contemplated such phenomena without repulsion and with an open mind

Comments

[Trevor]

Ironically enough Felix, just three weeks ago I facilitated a workshop for 20 family carers - these are family members that are caring full time for another family member with profound learning disabilities and mental health problems.

As I entered the room to prepare for the workshop I noticed on the wall a wonderful quote from William James which I then used to introduce the session because it sums up the mind set one needs to have when dealing with patients who may exhibit behavior that challenges us.

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude of mind”

William James 1842 – 1910

I love that!!

[Felix Gerena]

Great quote, Trevor. James was a very curious and intelligent man, no doubt.