"You can confide
in quiet people.
They make way
for one's thoughts."
– Abraham Verghese in The Covenant of Water (2023)
The quote
Abraham Verghese's novel is very meditative, thoughtful, even as lots happens in it. It is populated with loud people, sure. But its heroes are the quiet ones, who don't need to throw their weight around.
They are sometimes more and sometimes less successful in their own right. But across the board, they help others to make the best of their lives too.
Why it matters to innovators
Innovation can often appear all about action – chasing dreams, competing for a place in fashionable growth area, just activating.
But, as mentioned before, action only takes you so far. At some point, it turns just into a hectic scramble to keep up.
Without thought and choices that lead to a direction, action is aimless.
And without self-reflection, it struggles with biases and blindspots.
- Action
- Thoughtfulness and choices
- Self-reflection
But it's hard to be actionable, thoughtful, and self-reflective all at once. I'd go as far as to argue that it's actually impossible.
And so you need someone else in a different mode than yours, to help complement you and offer what you need just as much but can't simply conjure up on your own.
Go do!
Consider:
- What: What is your (team's) default mode? What is its current mode? What modes do you under-leverage right now?
- Action
- Thoughtfulness and choices
- Self-reflection
- So what: Whom do you know who can be trusted partners for the modes that you currently lack?
