“I think one has a duty to continue to experiment. To say, ‘I truly do not know what I’m doing. But I’m going to take not knowing seriously and risk whatever it is that needs to be risked to allow a process, a thing, to emerge out of the process. That may be quite mad. What is wrong with that?’”
This comment was made by the sculptor, Anish Kapoor. Don’t know who he is? Well, I bet you know his most recent sculpture…that is if you watched the 2012 Olympics in London. His sculpture curiously rose in the background of many venues. I kept wondering what it was. My first thought: Oh, a big, red, odd looking roller coaster, which proved off the mark on closer observation,
Let’s get back to the quote. You may be thinking that’s a great philosophy for a sculptor but not for me, after all I’m in business. I disagree. In fact, I’m suggesting you’re allowing limited thinking to rule your thoughts. I find Anish’s viewpoint particularly applicable when corporate America requires innovation to emerge from its ranks to be competitive in today’s marketplace. So, when have you allowed yourself to risk not knowing and move into surprising discovery for yourself and your company? If never or not recently, jump in and risk not knowing.
