You Can Learn to Execute Better
Some people are really good on the innovation side but not so good on the execution side. But that can be changed.
Does Creativity Come From Nature or Nurture?
Hal Gregersen: Four-year-olds everywhere in the world are successful innovators. They ask lots of questions. They observe like anthropologists. And that means everyone - you and I - we have more creative capacity than we think.
People often ask me whether innovation or creativity is nature or nurture. Are we born with it or not? And the answer is, both. There are five or six studies of genetically identical twins that are separated at birth. They grew up in different family environments. They’re tested for creativity when they become adults and about one-third of their creativity or innovation skills are indeed sourced from their genetics – their DNA. The other two-thirds, though, come from the world we grow up in and the world we work in.
You Can Learn to Discover. It's in Your DNA
You can equally improve my innovation or discovery skills if you just learn what they are and how to become better at it.
The future won't be easier, simpler, or less uncertain than what we’re living in today. The only way to unlock the solutions to that wild terrain we’re walking into is to build a capacity in ourselves and the people around us to ask the right question.
Hal Gregersen is the co-author of “The Innovator’s DNA” with Clayton Christensen, which outlines the skills that are necessary in order to be a "disruptive innovator." Gregersen is the creator of Forbes’ Most Innovative Companies list and founder of the 4-24 project, which is dedicated to rekindling in adults the provocative power of asking the right questions to ultimately cultivate the next generation of innovative leaders.
To find out more, visit HalGregersen.com and The 4-24 Project.
