Do What's Next To Discover What's New

The Berkeley Computer Corporation is one of those legendary influencers in the early days of the computing revolution, akin to the famous Homebrew Computer Club that sparked Wozniak's insights and led to the formation of Apple. 

I was struck by a comment that one of BCC's founding members made about their early efforts, as it resonates with a sentiment I've heard countless times in the creativity and innovation space: 

"There weren't any spectacularly new ideas in the project. The point was to take ideas that other people had, some of which have been implemented on other machines, and show you could make it all work in a much less grandiose environment." Butler Lampson said this of the Genie, which not only became a very successful product, but ultimately led to the formation of the famed Xerox PARC. (Dealers...)

Many times, folks buckle under the pressure to think of something "new." But that's unnecessary. Instead, I recommend trying to think of next. What can you build upon? What's something you admire that you can push in unexpected directions, into unanticipated applications?

"Copy, edit, iterate" is a great recipe for innovation (in fact, I'm sure that very phrase, if not the sentiment, has seeped in from some other inspiration of my own).

I often see teams struggling to come up with something new. Instead, I'd suggest they try to come up with something next. And then next, and then next, and then next. If everyone listens with openness rather than judgment, and contributes not what they think sounds "creative," but rather, what seems "obvious," given their unique perspective, this this simple "next level" thinking will inspire some radical new directions! By virtue of their various backgrounds and perspectives, if each member of the team pushes themselves to think of next, then collectively, they will arrive at new. It's almost inevitable. 

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