One Apple A Day #1081
For Art Kleiner, "a heretic is someone who sees a truth that contradicts the conventional wisdom of the institution to which he or she belongs and remains loyal to both entities—the institution and the new truth."
I felt the power of this definition from the first moment I read it in his book, The Age of Heretics.
A few years ago, while I was researching for my book - Subtraction - I discovered the work of Professor Benoit Godin at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique. With his work, The Idea of Innovation, he wanted to explore a deeper understanding of what innovation is. So, he went back in history to understand how the concept of innovation evolved into the buzzword that we use today.
While today innovation has undoubtedly a positive connotation for everyone, it carried a strongly negative meaning for centuries. It was the secularised term for heresy, a contested idea in philosophy, religion, politics and social affairs.
Only in the last century innovation has shifted from a vice to a virtue.
This historical connection between heresy and innovation may explain the discomfort that radical innovations create, both in the innovators themselves and the environment they are trying to change. When people see a truth that contradicts the conventional wisdom of the world they belong to, they may leave to avoid that tension. But doing that won't create an impact. If they stay, however, and remain loyal to both the world and the new truth, they may be able to change things and make an impact.
Innovation is heresy manifested.