Stop. Calling. Everything. Innovation.

I hope your October is going well - and you are entering the last quarter of this very challenging year.

This has been a year of sudden stops - and sad endings.

But there is also no question that this year has also been a year of many new beginnings.

If we want to find our way forward, if we want to adapt, to pivot, to survive and thrive in change, we have to find new answers, new solutions, new approaches.

The problem? People hate new things.

A 2010 study, for example, found that the longer something is thought to exist, the better it is evaluated, whether we talk about university requirements, art, acupuncture, or food.

Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson writes: “People who saw a painting described as having been painted in 1905 found it far more pleasing to look at than people who saw the same painting described as created in 2005.

Students preferred the course requirement described as the status quo over a new version regardless of whether the new version meant more or less course- work.

Study participants were given a piece of European chocolate. It was described to them as having first been sold in its region either seventy-three years ago or three years ago. Guess which group rated the chocolate as better-tasting...?”

 And it's not just new things. We hate innovation just as much.

So to give you more details on why that is and how to turn it around, I have two resources for you.

First, we have my Harvard Business Review article which, being titled "Stop Calling It Innovation" has created quite a stir - so I hope this PDF download will give research and best practices to use today. 

If you prefer a video format, I just hosted a live session for an Innovation Cafe under the same title -  so this YouTube video is here to serve:

Let's bring new ideas to life. And let's do it in the way that works - and engages not the few of us, but all of us, by being more thoughtful and grounded in our approach.

P.S. Want more? I will be:

- Keynoting the 4th annual Appreciative Inquiry Community (AI) Jam on October 15th and 18th - and would love to see you there>>>

- Starting the Russian-language version of the Certified Reinvention Practitioner program on October 13th - doors are closing soon but there is time to join>>>

- Speaking about the beloved STELLAR Strategy Canvas at the live virtual Innov8rs event here>>>

————

Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva helps companies such as Coca-Cola, Kohler, and IBM turn change and disruption into an opportunity.

Want to join our amazing reinvention community? Grab this FREE 85-page preview of my new book and you are in: https://www.learn2reinvent.com/handbook