What Is Innovation? | Tina Zita | TEDxSacredHeartCHS
Summary
TLDRThe speaker reflects on the concept of innovation, initially associating it with grand technological achievements like robots and VR. However, they later realize that innovation is more about the journey, curiosity, and persistence, drawing inspiration from Einstein’s ten-year process between discoveries. They discuss how innovation can be found in small moments, everyday creativity, and remixing existing ideas. Through personal experiences in education, photography, and family, the speaker emphasizes that anyone can be an innovator by embracing curiosity, learning from failures, and celebrating small successes along the way.
Takeaways
- 🤖 Innovation can be seen in various forms, from advanced technology like robots and VR headsets to older inventions like the light bulb.
- 🧠 The speaker realized they didn’t have a clear understanding of what innovation meant to them and started to reflect on the concept.
- 📚 Innovation is more about the journey and process, as shown by Einstein’s 10 years of pondering between his major discoveries.
- 🎓 Innovation is not just about creating new technology but can happen in everyday actions, such as improving education methods.
- 🎨 Passion and curiosity are key drivers of innovation, and this can be seen in different fields like photography, music, and sports.
- 🚀 Small moments matter on the journey of innovation, and even minor successes, like perfecting a hand-lettering project, can be celebrated.
- 💡 Sparks of innovation come from everyday connections, such as conversations with friends, brainstorming sessions, or exposure to new ideas through technology.
- 📱 Many innovations are built on previous ideas, as seen in the evolution of smartphones or how Mark Ronson describes remixing existing concepts.
- 🌳 Innovation is also about adapting old knowledge to new situations, like the speaker’s grandfather transforming farming techniques to work in a small backyard.
- ⏸️ Pausing to reflect is crucial for innovation, as taking time to step away from routine allows creativity and new ideas to surface.
Q & A
What common images of innovation are presented at the start of the script?
-The speaker mentions a fancy white robot from tech shows, a VR headset, and even something as old-school as a light bulb.
How did the speaker initially perceive innovation?
-The speaker initially saw innovation as grand moments, such as advanced technology like robots and VR, without considering its broader, personal relevance.
What was the speaker’s realization about their understanding of innovation?
-The speaker realized they didn't have a clear understanding of what innovation meant to them and had only used the term because it sounded cool and was commonly mentioned.
How did Einstein’s journey inspire the speaker’s view of innovation?
-The speaker was inspired by the fact that Einstein spent 10 years between two major discoveries, showing that innovation is more about the journey and persistence rather than a singular, immediate breakthrough.
What personal examples does the speaker provide to relate to innovation?
-The speaker relates innovation to their passions for education and photography, as well as the interests of their brothers in music, sports, and design.
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of small moments in the innovation process?
-The speaker argues that innovation often consists of small successes, such as completing a hand-lettering project, which signal progress and learning rather than just celebrating big breakthroughs.
What example does the speaker give from architecture to explain creative sparks in innovation?
-The speaker references Gaudí’s work in Barcelona, where he used smashed tea cups and plates to create iconic architectural designs, showing how small creative sparks can lead to innovation.
How does the speaker view the role of technology and social media in innovation?
-The speaker sees technology and social media as powerful tools that enable global connections, allowing people to share and apply innovative ideas across different contexts, such as education.
What is the significance of the '100-day project' to the speaker’s view of innovation?
-The speaker participated in a photography challenge called the '100-day project' on Instagram, which helped them realize the importance of daily creative practice and learning from others through social media interaction.
What does the speaker believe is the hardest part of the innovation process?
-The hardest part of the innovation process for the speaker is learning to pause, reflect, and allow for creativity to spark, as they tend to get caught up in a busy, fast-paced lifestyle.
Outlines
🤖 Innovation: More Than Just Tech Gadgets
In this paragraph, the speaker reflects on their initial concept of innovation, often associated with high-tech gadgets like robots and VR headsets. They describe how, after questioning their understanding of innovation, they turned to Google for a definition, which described innovation as the action or process of creating new ideas, methods, or products. However, the speaker felt distanced from this grand idea of innovation, thinking it was reserved for scientific discoveries or new technology, and began to question where they could find themselves in this journey.
👨🔬 Einstein's Long Journey of Innovation
The speaker shares a story about Einstein, focusing on the ten years between his major discoveries. This story resonated with the speaker, making them realize that innovation is not just about big breakthroughs, but a long journey of curiosity, persistence, and small steps. The speaker begins to see themselves as an innovator, not by making groundbreaking discoveries, but through their passion for education and photography. They relate this insight to their personal experiences and those of their brothers, who are also following their passions in various fields like music, sports, and design.
🎨 The Small Moments of Success
Here, the speaker emphasizes the importance of small successes on the path to innovation, much like Einstein's ten-year journey. They discuss how celebrating small wins, like getting the perfect shape in a hand-lettering project, can be motivating and show progress. These small moments are just as valuable as big achievements, and recognizing them can guide someone along their innovation journey.
🏛️ Gaudí’s Innovative Vision: Sparking Ideas Everywhere
In this paragraph, the speaker reflects on the idea of sparks of inspiration being all around us, using the example of Gaudí’s architectural work in Barcelona. They express admiration for how Gaudí’s innovation with smashed-up tea cups and plates led to famous buildings. The speaker connects this to their own experiences, noting that conversations and technology can spark innovative ideas, allowing them to apply new insights in the classroom. They also talk about how global connections through technology can lead to new possibilities in education.
📸 The Hundred-Day Creative Journey
The speaker describes their participation in a photography challenge called the 'hundred-day project,' where they committed to creating something daily and sharing it on Instagram. This practice helped them develop their creativity and connect with other artists, musicians, and designers. They realized that innovation can build upon existing concepts, similar to how smartphones evolved from dial-up phones. The speaker compares this process to their grandfather’s adaptation of farming techniques from Italy to a small yard in Toronto, demonstrating how innovation is about remixing and adapting old ideas to new situations.
🧘 The Power of Pausing and Reflecting
The speaker concludes by discussing the importance of taking pauses in the busy cycle of life. They reflect on how taking time to pause and think, like walking by a lake, allows them to notice sparks of inspiration from conversations, books, and experiences. This pause is essential for sparking innovation, and the speaker encourages others to seek out these small moments of reflection, emphasizing that everyone has the potential to be an innovator by recognizing and acting on these sparks.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Innovation
💡Journey
💡Small moments
💡Curiosity
💡Iteration
💡Connections
💡Remixing
💡Sparks
💡Reflection
💡Technology
Highlights
Innovation often evokes images like robots or virtual reality headsets.
Initially, the speaker realized they didn’t have a clear understanding of innovation.
Innovation is often seen as grand moments or technological marvels.
The speaker finds inspiration in Einstein's ten-year journey of pondering and questioning before making a major discovery.
Innovation can be more about the journey than just the final product.
The speaker sees innovation in their work with education, constantly trying new ideas and approaches.
The importance of seeing oneself as an innovator, even without creating a groundbreaking invention.
Small moments of success, like getting the shape of a letter right, are essential in the innovation journey.
There are sparks of inspiration all around, from casual conversations to moments of creativity.
Technology and social media offer vast opportunities for inspiration and collaboration.
The speaker participates in a creative project on Instagram, learning and growing through daily practice.
Innovation often involves remixing or iterating on existing ideas, as seen in the evolution of the smartphone.
The speaker's grandfather used innovative techniques to grow a variety of plants in a small Toronto yard.
Hitting roadblocks can lead to finding new paths and ideas, which is a key part of innovation.
Pausing and reflecting is essential to notice the sparks of inspiration and to continue innovating.
Transcripts
so when you hear the question of what is
innovation what comes to mind I think a
lot of times when I think of it I think
of that fancy white robot that are and
all the tech shows that talk to you
maybe it's a VR headset that lets you go
on adventures in your PJs on your couch
or maybe it's something as old-school as
a light bulb I realized though when I
asked myself what is innovation I didn't
really have a clear sense of what it
meant to me I knew I used it in phrases
and terms because it kind of sounded
cool and people said I needed to be
innovative or I heard people mentioning
it over time but really I didn't have a
understanding to myself what innovation
was so I did what we all do when we have
a question you go to Google type in
define innovation and that definition we
heard this morning came up that action
or process of innovating the idea of
coming up with a new idea method or
product see to me innovation was these
grand moments it was that little cool
blue robot I got to play with with
little kids that I could control from an
iPad it was going to the Digi play space
at Bell Lightbox and moving my arms and
seeing paint being Illustrated on a
screen it was at the X when you have all
those amazing concoctions like deep
fried cheesecake or poutine balls the
problem was really seeing innovation
that way was I couldn't see myself in
that innovation I was not going to have
a scientific discovery like you just
heard from dr. pedina I was not going to
invent that new next technology so if I
wanted to be an innovator where could I
find myself really in that and that
really it's kind of funny how things
always happen at just that right time a
friend had shared a YouTube clip with me
of the late night show with Stephen
Colbert and he had a professor of
mathematics and physics on Brian Greene
and Brian Greene was sharing a little
bit about Einstein's theory of
relativity I'm not the best science
person so he was doing it in plain
language that we all understand with
cool little props but there was this
moment that really caught my attention
he started talking about Einsteins
journey and he talks about a moment
where Einstein had ten years between two
of his main discoveries that we know
about ten years when you read them in
the textbooks you hear innovation
Einstein you don't hear about that ten
ten years of questioning pondering
reflecting ten years that he was so
passionate about a topic that he was
willing to stick with it and suddenly I
could see myself in that I could see
myself on this journey of innovation I
could see myself wanting to change
wanting to have an impact wanting to
make that difference I could see myself
in that definition maybe innovation was
more about the journey than it was about
that in a product maybe it was a
combination of both and I definitely had
passions and curiosities I could see
wanting to innovate within my education
so whether I work with four-year-olds or
84 year olds the cool part of my job I
get to try new ideas all the time I get
to challenge what learning looks like
for professionals we get to have Twitter
chats and we get to have explorations I
get to challenge what learning looks
like in the classroom and I definitely
had those curiosities I didn't just see
it in my education though I also saw it
with photography now please don't check
out my Instagram feed and challenge me
on this I know that my photography may
not be as innovative as some of the
professional photographers out there but
I could see my passion for photography
really leading me to try new things and
to explore new avenues and I just didn't
see that for myself I saw it for my
brothers whether it was my youngest
brother with his music and his
songwriting and trying new ideas whether
it was my middle brother yes I have
three that was exploring with sports and
trying new processes or if it was my
older brother that was looking at design
whether it was from building houses to
designing tattoos they all had these
passions and curiosities that were
really driving them forward suddenly I
could see myself in that definition of
innovation I could really see myself
exploring what the possibilities are
along the journey though I realized
there was some big lessons to be had you
come to that realization that you're an
innovator and then you go now what so
what kind of moment in the first moment
that I had to tackle with was
understanding that the small moments
count right we talked about that
Einstein journey was the 10 years it's
hard to really just depend on those big
moments and celebrate those big moments
we were talking about today even an
event like Ted
there were probably hundreds of
different small successes that they've
had along the way that have led to today
those are small successes that many
different people have had and sometimes
it seems silly I was doing a
hand-lettering project and I finally got
this D right and I was super stoked that
I finally got that right shape to that
letter D and people probably would laugh
at me to say that I celebrated that
small moment but that small moment told
me I was on the past that small moment
told me that I was learning and that I
had a new adventure in front of me I
think for me one of the big ideas is
that idea that there's sparks all around
I don't know if anybody's been to
Barcelona and seeing gaudi's really cool
homes and creations it was an aha moment
when I saw his work and its really all
just mashed up tea cups and plates how
did he have that spark that made him
sink Hey I'm gonna go take some plates
and cups and smash them up and plaster
them on buildings and one day people are
gonna come and spend thousands of
dollars to see these what sparked that
journey what sparked that innovation
more than anything what sparked gaudi's
passion and curiosity about conserving
energy and thinking of that before any
of us really tackled that I think one of
those pieces is really the connections
that idea of conversations starting that
exploration sometimes for me those
conversations I've been face-to-face
it's a coffee with a friend at Starbucks
where they challenge and they provoke my
thinking maybe sometimes it's a
brainstorming session when you come up
with so many cool ideas there's at least
one that you can follow with I think for
me though what's really cool is seeing
the possibilities with technology and
social media the opportunity I can see
an app that somebody's used in Singapore
and use it in a classroom the next day
the idea that somebody can tell me about
a project from Italy and the next day we
can have a classroom participating I
think to me it really saw the power in
it when I participated in a hundred
state project last year so like I said I
do like photography I'm not always great
at taking the time to get into it so I
had finished my Master's on the Monday
and the next day I opened up my
Instagram feed to see Elena's tree house
and she had this post about the hundreds
day project it seems simple la Luna I
started up
innovator artists had created this
challenge with some colleagues about
doing something every day and sharing it
on Instagram with a hashtag and as I
started getting into photography I
realized how much I learned from just
taking that daily practice of engaging
in that creative process but I also
realized how much I was receiving from
connecting with folks on that hashtag I
could click on that hashtag and see a
graphic designer
a watercolor artist a pianist and see
all of their work inspired what I was
doing at the moment
better yet was I had a group that I kind
of roped along for the journey
so had four or five friends that decided
to do it with me all hundred days it was
a long trek and on those days where I
was feeling like I didn't know what I
was going to take a picture of the next
day they challenged me to think outside
the box they gave me criticism they gave
me feedback that really helped guide me
along that path the other idea is that
innovation really doesn't always start
as a brand new concept we all see our
fancy smartphones and it's hard to
believe that at one point they had those
dial-up phones that your grandma may
still have in our house it seems like a
completely new product but really it's
been iterations and innovations over
time Mark Ronson has a great TED talk
about remix thing and he said really
remix is taking something you love and
building on it I could see that with my
grandpa so my grandfather came from
Italy and moved from this big village
and farming to a little parcel of land
in Toronto and you may not think that's
really innovation or remixes and
strategies that he had for a big field
and now apply them to a postage stamp
back yard where you could barely fit a
kiddie pool somehow he had every
vegetable you can imagine with trees
growing three fruits and in that moment
he remixed what his understanding was
what he knew from before and made it
work for the situation he had a lot of
times that is innovation it's hitting
those roadblocks or hitting those
concepts that you can't push forward and
finding a new path or a new idea I think
the hardest lesson for me is taking a
pause like I like to be busy and I have
my phone on me at every second it's kind
of crazy that it's not with me right
this minute
and I get stuck in that cycle you get up
you go to work you go to school you go
home you could work you go to bed and it
just keeps on going
and I really was challenged last year of
the importance of taking that pause
because I realized all those wonderful
sparks happen around those people those
readings those conversations I didn't
really notice them unless I did stop and
reflect so for me that means I put on my
earbuds I walk down to the lake and I
just walked till my brain starts
thinking and sparking and flowing we all
each have our own pause but that pause
is essential as we move forward I think
most importantly it's just to remember
that there's sparks all around you you
have friends you have educators teachers
you have books you have videos all these
possibilities that can really force us
to take that spark and go on this
amazing journey but more so than not
it's realizing that we all have the
potential to be an innovator we all have
that opportunity to seek out sparks we
all have the chance to celebrate those
small moments and embark on a journey
that won't just affect change for us but
for the people around us thanks
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