One Apple A Day #210
“Livin’ on the edge” by the Aerosmith was one of my favourites songs when I was a teenager. I couldn’t understand the words at that time, but it was catchy.
I checked the lyrics for the first time this morning.
I did it because I’ve just been reminded of the importance of edginess in innovation.
Having a “healthy edginess”, as my friend Vanessa calls it, keeps you awake and receptive. The more I explore the history innovators, the more I realise that innovation doesn’t come from happiness and comfort. It comes from a place of discomfort, from staying on the frontier. Innovators must have the mindset of the explorers, of the pioneers living on the edge of the known world seeking new lands or new ways to reach the known ones.
The new frontiers are not physical anymore but, if we want to innovate, we must stretch ourselves to the edge of the known. We must keep walking on the edge seeking for new paths.
The edge is not very comfortable, but it is through forcing ourselves into that space of discomfort that we can innovate.
Are you living on the edge?