What does it require to innovate? What does it require to go from zero to one? What differentiates Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and all the great visionaries from everyone else? These were the questions that I set out to answer. The pursuit of an answer took me from physics to philosophy to psychology to religion. At the end, there were no boundaries between these. The universe seems to be in harmony with each other. Then I had the realization that all fields of study like biology, philosophy, physics, and chemistry are human creations. They are the categorizations created by humans.
What these innovators did/do is the exact opposite of being in the categories; they broke the patterns. They found connections that were never before found, they created paths that never before existed. They went from zero to one.
Everything is impossible before it is created for the first time. What is ‘possible’ is already done. They put the very definition of ‘possible’ or ‘realistic’ into question. What we think of as realistic is something that is real, but something that is not the part of human consciousness and that is not yet ‘real’ is considered ‘unrealistic’.
- “The creativity that can occur when a feel for both the humanities and the sciences combine in one strong personality was the topic that most interested me in my biographies of Franklin and Einstein, and I believe that it will be a key to creating innovative economies in the twenty-first century.” - Walter Isaacson writes in his biography of Steve Jobs*
We create new reality all the time. The iPhone was not a reality up until it was created. Soon after, a few more things clicked to me.
“You have to reject the reason to innovate,” says Jony Ive.
There is an incredible thought pattern breaking question that Elon uses for his team:
“When they protested that it was impossible, Musk would respond with a question designed to open their minds to the problem and potential solutions. He would ask, “What would it take?”” - Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
Think about this for a few seconds; let it sink in.
Now it all made sense. Innovators see the ghosts. Let me explain, what is a ghost? Something that apparently exists but cannot be seen or can be seen by select few. They can imagine seeing the patterns or connecting the dots that no one else can connect. This is what makes them visionaries.
Now the question is, where does this ability to see what no one else sees or connect dots no one else can come from? You see what you are looking for, so your perception and creativity are what enable you to imagine something that has never been imagined before.
“Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights that others don’t see.” - Steve Jobs
One more trait of these innovators is that they are different; they are unique. They don’t fit in well in boxes. They are unconventional, and more often than not, weird. That weirdness is their power. They think past the constraints set out by the society and existing knowledge to imagine something that has never been imagined before. In other words, they are Originals, but where does that originality come from?
“Don’t be career-bound and break the patterns,” says Steve Jobs.
We are wired to fit in, we are wired to seek confirmation and act or think like everyone else because being different is hard. Being original comes with consequences. Tall poppy syndrome and stripes on zebra experiments are all examples of human wiring to be the same(you can ask ChatGPT to give you more context on these two examples). Cultures, traditions, and norms are designed to help us cooperate better with ease. Like a school of fish or herd of wild horses, people are inclined to hide among each other. Originality means being different. Being different means being a target. But, originality is freedom.
“The more you fit in with society, the less free you are.” - Naval Ravikant
Your perception and creativity are powered by your understanding of the world that you hold in your mind. What differentiates visionaries and great thinkers from average is their maps of understanding that they have created over time. I call these maps Framework of Understanding.
What is more important is that Framework of Understanding can be developed with deliberate practice; it is not something set in stone.
Parminder Singh