Crafting Graffiti - The Way Innovation Happens
When was the last time you looked at a freshly painted wall in a public domain? Have you observed a freshly painted wall - have you realized that it creates a definite feeling to do something on it. Have you felt a child like urge to take a piece of chalk or stone and draw something - anything on it? If you haven't ever had that urge - may be next time you see a freshly painted wall, just imagine that you are actually doing it? Doing what - changing it by scratching, scrawling, painting or marking it in any manner. If you actually do it - it is called Graffiti - as per wikipedia
As per wikipedia, Graffiti (singular Graffito) is sometimes regarded as a form of art other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted vandalism.
Well, whats the point?
Attempting innovation or any attempt to change the status-quo is sometimes regarded as ART but most of the times unwanted vandalism.
Graffiti's similarity with Innovation doesn't end here. The way Graffiti happens -the natural process of multiple hands and minds working on the same canvas -the wall - which is visual, available to be seen, and available to be changed has some of the elements to craft Innovation in any large organization.
Further, what emerges at the end, none of the participants - who made graffito marks on the wall - had any idea. None knew what is the ultimate output that the wall will have. No one designs - yet each one of contributors made it - the ultimate graffiti. How close to any Innovation one can think of.
Innovation need to be a social phenomenon just as graffiti is. Just like graffiti, any Innovation has an element of someone creating that initial mark on the plain wall - just changing the status-quo - that person may become the voice of protest, may be considered an unwanted vandal or may be considered as an artful genius, depending upon the impact and which side of the coin the viewer is. Once that mark is visible to all, some others raise their pencils, paints, chalks, - there comes an element of safety that since the first guy did it, so we can do it as well. Suddenly the tipping point happens when lot of people join in to make the graffiti on the wall of surface.
How close is Innovation to graffiti.
Crafitti Consulting - the new consulting firm that I have become part of, has developed mechanisms to craft graffiti - these help in emergence of new art, new products, new way of doing things - in fact new way of understanding and exploring the world around us. We are now ready to share and co-craft Innovation - and I am sure the unwanted vandalism may be the initial reaction one may get - however - once the marks and scratches are filled - we will see the emergence of new art - that is unimagined when we start.
We promise Emergence through Immersion!
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