I will admit it—I am not a fan of Google. For me, too much power in too few hands, their cute little “do no evil” mantra besides. Since the advent of their mail service in 2004, where it was clear they were reading the mail, it was obvious to me that this was an example of simply too much trust given. Sure, their defenders among my friends would point out that no real human was actually reading your specific mail, but as we know from the recent NSA experience, the leap from Google reading your mail in order to direct ads your way to the government reading your mail is very tiny.
However, Google does do a lot well, and no where is that seen better than in Google X, their massive innovation lab. For many, it is a dream come true. Several of my innovative friends talk wistfully of trying to see such a type of mindset at their business, but it isn’t likely to come.
The reason why isn’t too hard to figure out; many want change but are afraid to really go for it. They will defend their failure to act in this innovative way with one of two excuses—money or time.
In the arena of Money, it is easy to look at Google and proclaim, “we simply can’t afford to do that, especially not to scale.”
With Time, either there will be a claim of “I am too busy” or that “we have too many pressing issues that prohibit us from setting aside critical people to work on fantasy ideas.”
But are these really the issue? I mean, sure Google has a lot more money than most companies…and certainly more than an individual. But, the idea of an innovation lab does not have to match them at scale…and most businesses waste money on various projects or through poor oversight. If you wanted to create some sort of innovation lab, there are many ways to do it for the money your business has.
And Time? Come on….we all know that you have time to do whatever you want to do. And if you think your business can’t spare some workers….we all know that there will never be a time when there aren’t pressing events or agendas. That is a faint issue that is solved if you really want to be innovative. If those workers quit tomorrow, you would of course figure out a way to move forward with those pressing matters.
So, if its not really an issue of time or money, then what is it? The reality could be mostly that you are just too scared to move off of the norm. Is that true of your business? Of your life? Is the next great American novel sitting in your mind? The latest neat craft idea? Maybe your first 10 ideas won’t be successful, but that’s part of the innovative lab. You try things, many won’t work out, but every so often….magic.
Don’t hold back! Go for it. Bring good courage. You can do it!!