Are you an innovative thinker?

"Great innovators and original thinkers and artists attract the wrath of mediocrities as lightning rods draw the flashes," wrote Theodor Reik, US Psychoanalyst and author.

Innovators set themselves apart from a large segment of society because thinking, coupled with action, is so rare a commodity.  New products require the user to learn an unfamiliar skill.  Original ideas require an alternate thought process.  Fear of the unknown launches emotions of panic and suspicions in many people – perhaps, a leftover from the origins of man, when he lived in a hunter-gatherer society.  Aldous Huxley, English intellectual of satirical and philosophical novels wrote, "The vast majority of human beings dislike and even dread all notions with which they are not familiar. Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have always been derided as fools and madmen."

With the commencement of the Information Age, technological pressures are greater than ever.  Youth easily grasps change as it flies at them.  Change has become a part of their world.  The older you are, the less receptive you may have become to the new techie lifestyle, but it is in your best interest to move along and keep up with it.  Go into shops specializing in computers and tech toys, and ask for demos.  You can introduce yourself to some hand-on playfulness while being coached by “one of the kids.”

Thinking, creativity, and exposure to the innovations of others create fuel for your dreams of success. "The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams," wrote W. Arthur Porter.

Your idea does not have to be far from the beaten path.  It does not have to be totally original.  With a bit of unconventional creativity, courage, and follow-through, you can have enormous success.  Sometimes the simple ideas are the most innovative. 

"The most technologically efficient machine that man has ever invented is the book," said Northrop Frye, one of the twentieth century's pre-eminent English scholars and literary critics and a noted commentator on Canadian society and culture.