The Innovator's Brain

I was reading an article by Phil Cooke on his BLOG, The Change Revolution that I thought was pretty interesting. Check out what he has to say about the innovator's brain:

Research indicates that true innovator's brains are actually different from other people's brains. The big difference is that original thinkers - iconoclasts - innovators - whatever you want to call them, see the world differently than everyone else. Too many of us think "automatically" - in other words, we assume the way things should be, take a lot for granted, and don't challenge our perceptions. But innovators don't make those assumptions, and generally see the world the way it is. The secret of being an innovator? Bombard the brain with new experiences. Force yourself to see the world in different ways. Travel. Meet new people. Think from different experiences. Live a life of novelty. It's no surprise many of our most innovative writers, artists, actors, filmmakers and more were a bit eccentric. They didn't live their lives the way everyone else thought they should. Jesus was a great example of someone who lived outside other people's expectations. As a result, these unusual people produce far more creative work because they refused to see "normal" as normal. What's your experience? Is there a routine you can break out of? What behavior can you shatter that would give you a new perspective on living? - Phil Cooke

WOW! "Bombard the brain with new experiences". What have I done lately... that is not a part of my regular routine? Now that really challenges me to "make time" in my schedule for spontaneity and non-routine activities. That's great... planned spontaneity!

OK ... so here's the deal: I am going to starting doing one "little something" (Hey, it's a start.) that is so totally out of my normal "routine" every week. I don't know exactly what that looks like yet... but something to stimulate creativity and... INNOVATION. I do a lot of creative stuff all week long (It's a part of my job)... but I wouldn't consider very much of it to be truly "innovative". I think we all spend way too much time being "copycat" artists. We are just re-creating other artist's stuff. It takes whole other level of creativity and free-thinking to be "UNIQUE".

So... what can YOU do this week to break out of the expected... the routine? What can you do to wake up your "innovative brain"? Have fun!