Innovation Culture
Societies are a critical element contributing to culture. Innovators are a distinct group sometimes working alone and for larger projects in groups. What they all share is the creative process and the angst that often accompanies it.
The gestation period followed by some type of manifesting is effortless at times but impossible at others. It knows no boundaries - people in the arts, sciences and business all go through the same steps.
This can be made easier by sharing experiences and solutions. Professional organizations do this in every field, now the Innovation field has a professional organization to call it's own.
Silicon Valley is unique in the world in terms of innovation
The number of patents issued in the region known as Silicon Valley loosely ranging from South San Francisco to San Jose is greater per capita than any place in the world. The number of companies that have been founded based upon these technologies and funded in Silicon Valley is equally disproportionate. This wealth generation magnet has attracted talent from the entire globe. The great aggregation of wealth, talent and ideas rivals Florence and Ancient Greece, two other places where an unprecedented flowing of human potential occurred.
The initial chapter of the Innovation Society is in part to celebrate the Silicon Valley as well as to work toward more optimally managing and architecting this kind of activity.
Engineering and business have successfully wed and produced bountiful offspring. Now the Innovation Society would like to add another partner to the mix - the arts.
Wealth generation is wonderful yet people also need soul and meaning. This is something the arts excel in. In fact it is why they exist. All three share the creative process from which all new bounty emanates. All three can share their experiences in managing and architecting their successes and failures. Yes - creativity does involve failure as well, and coping with it is a large part of the skill set of a successful innovator.
Risk Prudence and Adversity Factors
Innovators share two sometimes competing characteristics. They are good at managing the tradeoffs between taking chances and following their passion. They also are possessed of a high adversity quotient, meaning they have thick enough skins to tolerate the inevitable rejection and failure that accompanies breakthrough behavior. This combination can make them outspoken and seemingly uncooperative, two features that do not always endear them to others.
If one is to be deviant, then one needs to tolerate deviance - especially if it comes in the same form as ones own. These are people who have a natural affinity for each other and when several innovators combine forces any problem can be solved.
Providing a place for people with the optimism and creativity to solve problems in the heart of Silicon Valley on Sand Hill Road, the Abundance Corridor, is quite natural. After all there are more Billionaires per square mile and more Nobel Laureates per square mile here than anywhere else.
"At its heart, jamming is about improvisation in the same way a product-development team comes up with something new that compels the customer's attention. It is the tightrope a company walks between analytical rigor and inspired passion, when it leaves the sheet music behind for new horizons." -- John Kao