And I think an interesting thought to pursue - why has 'innovation' become a buzz word of this decade? How is it different to invention, or 'new ideas', or experimentation. Is it because it is a process rather than an end product - and if yes, as Anon. points out, that process was surely there to put a man on the moon. Did they call it innovation then? Deb, perhaps you can throw some light?
Friday, 10 July 2009
Off on holiday
I am going away for a couple of weeks - so over to you guys to take over. Start posting. Already some interesting thoughts ... and some disturbing ones. I will check carefully, when in a bikini, that the tops of my legs don't look like the top of an opened can of cold Campbell's Chicken Soup ...
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So there was me, having a fag out of the back door, when she comes out with: the compost needs it, it’s full of nitrogen and helps break everything down. And it’s not like you haven’t got much, your flies are up and down like a bride’s nightie. So, for the sake of the beans, potatoes, asparagus and the rest, I’m collecting piss in a watering can, for the allotment.
Gallons of the stuff she wants. There’s nothing to be worried about she says. It’s perfectly natural. And you eat the veg anyway.
It wasn’t too easy at first, I was a bit shaky, but once you get your aim right it’s an absolute breeze. In fact, it’s so much easier than going upstairs, I’m thinking of getting a seat put on the watering can…
That’s a very interesting point you made with regard to Anon’s insightful comment, about this new word that’s being bandied about willy-nilly: I’ve heard it mentioned so many times, yet nobody seems to be able to tell me what it means. So, please forgive me, but it’s compelled me to join the debate. I’ve been thinking. Is ‘innovation’ just a new word for something we've always known, or is it a wholly new and revolutionary concept?
You pose the question: is it because it’s the process as opposed to the result? Hmmm. Well, the formation and execution of a ‘new idea’ is without doubt a process. As is ‘invention’, surely. And I think you’d agree that ‘experimentation’ is a process too. So it can’t be that.
Actually, ‘innovation’ reminds me of a story by a Danish storyteller I was told as a child. And I think that it could well be the definitive answer to the whole conundrum - it may indeed throw the light you suggest onto the subject, and it starts like this:
Once upon a time there lived a vain Emperor whose only worry in life was to dress in elegant clothes. He changed clothes almost every hour and loved to show them off to his people.
Word of the Emperor's refined habits spread over his kingdom and beyond. Two scoundrels who had heard of the Emperor's vanity decided to take advantage of it. They introduced themselves at the gates of the palace with a scheme in mind.
"We are two very good tailors and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to weave a cloth so light and fine that it looks invisible. As a matter of fact it is invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality."...
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