DENVER — Where do innovators come from? Most of them are, well, often futzing around, according to disruption strategist Shawn Kanungo. And that’s how their ideas sprout and develop.
Speaking Sunday at the AACC Annual Convention, Kanungo — flanked by screens that flashed disruption catchphrases, quotes and statistics — said innovators (which he calls “value creators”) don’t just decide one day to create something. Like scientists, they often dabble (which he dubbed “unfocused play”). They will often take an idea they’ve played with and eventually apply them in a context, like using it in a task at work.
Check out the Q&A with Kanungo in the new issue of AACC’s Community College Journal.
That’s what happened with the internet, AI and ChatGPT, Kanungo said. And often those innovations aren’t always initially embraced, he continued, adding that they are regularly seen as a joke at first. He then played a 1995 segment from the Late Night with David Letterman TV show where the host questioned Bill Gates if the internet was really a special innovation, joking that technologies like TV, radio and tape recorders seemed to do just fine.
But kudos to those who stuck with their ideas even when they drew laughs, Kanungo said. When it comes to innovation, 10% is technology and 90% is psychology, meaning it’s a willingness to take the chance, he said.
Disrupt yourself
Too often, people don’t want to be a disruptor because they are OK with their status in “status quo,” Kanungo said. He provided a few tips to help spark our inner disruptor:
- First, define your identity by why you exist, not what you do.
- Second, place yourself in “lower status” situations. (Kanungo, for example, tried his hand at working one day at a Wal-Mart to see what it was like.)
- Finally, figure out how to get fired. By that he meant to question why things are done the way they are and challenge them.
Kanungo summarized his presentation into a shorter list: value creation, waste, be a joke and get fired.
Kidding aside, Kanungo challenged the audience not just to clap politely about his list, but to actually try it over the next few days.
His presentation concluded with a quote flashed on the background screens: “The most dangerous person in the room is the person whose most afraid, but bold enough to move forward.”
