The Innovation Paradox

Last week I took part in an industry panel to hear presentations by University students and provide them with feedback. These students had taken part in a program of impressive and challenging international activities. For example, they had studied overseas, done humanitarian work, attended conferences and worked with visiting international students.

This was their opportunity to “sell themselves”; a chance to articulate what they had gained from the program and how their experiences set them apart from other graduates.

The students all spoke with great enthusiasm and clearly were grateful for the opportunities that had been made available to them. But they struggled to describe how they themselves had been improved; how their experiences differentiated them. Their presentations focused on selling the program, rather than on selling themselves.

Also last week, I worked with an organisation seeking a new business strategy. The management team struggled to articulate what was different and special about their firm, saying “We are quite good at most things” – not exactly a basis for differentiation! But through my relentless questioning, I discovered that they did have something unique with huge potential; something they had never thought about leveraging.

How can you capitalise on your uniqueness if you don’t even know what it is?

The innovation paradox is that to innovate you have to stand out, but many people would prefer to blend in.

Why is this? Partly, it’s being unable to see what you’ve got that’s special and valuable, and partly a feeling of discomfort around what feels like “boasting”, “bragging”, “blowing your own trumpet”, “big-noting yourself” or “singing your own praises”. It is fashionable to speak self-deprecatingly about your abilities. One of the students even told us “I am sooooo untalented!”
You don’t have to be narcissistic and flaunt yourself. But if you’re not aware of what you’ve got, if you’ve never even thought about it, you can’t use it. You can’t sell yourself without the right product knowledge.