Disruptive By Design: Considerations of Innovation
Rocks are not the first things that come to mind when you think about technology, but innovation started when someone decided to use one as a tool. As populations grew, their proximity to each other caused conflict over resources, and the fight to claim authority over the land began. In 6000 B.C. irrigation helped populations to move from hunter-gatherer groups to larger organized social groups. 4000 B.C. brought sailing and trade. 1200 B.C. started the Iron Age; 850 brought gunpowder; 1044 was the use of the magnetic compass, and in the late 1200s through the early 1300s, mechanical clocks began keeping track of time. Every day, new innovators are sharing their knowledge and discoveries, helping move the needle of progress forward.
The 2020s started with a global pandemic, then the European Union and the UK broke up, the U.S. Capitol was stormed, Russia invaded Ukraine and “the peace in the Middle East” didn’t last. World War II was supposed to be the “War to End All Wars,” and all we have learned is how to kill an enemy with more precision. Whether or not we meant to, we have traveled past the point of no return. Individuals continue to use human knowledge for personal gain, creating vulnerabilities with each discovery and harvesting the world’s resources. It is time to change the way we innovate, learn how to work together and hopefully reset the doom’s day clock.
The International Standards Organization Technical Committee on Innovation Management established a standard of terminology, tools, methods and interactions to enable innovation in any organization. The standard ISO 56000:2020 defined innovation as “a new or changed entity, realizing or redistributing value.” If we want to innovate change, we must redistribute value. We redistribute value by recognizing those whose voices have not been heard. Without lifting the voices of new innovators, we will continue to find ourselves stuck in a never-ending loop. By opening ourselves to new voices, we begin to see the world through a different lens. Each new voice brings a new perspective and spurs innovation.
Whose voices are you listening to? What books will be found in your library? Diversity in the content we consume allows everyone to learn from others’ mistakes. It teaches the brain how to think critically and discover new ideas. The same goes for diversity in those you surround yourself with. If you maintain a circle of individuals who constantly bow to your whim, there will be no personal growth, but the same goes for if you constantly bow to the whims of others. You must be willing to learn from a diverse group to impact change globally, and learning to work together is the first step.
You are not meant to do the work all by yourself. Each person has a role to play to ensure the work is done with integrity. Everyone looks at a challenge a little differently. When we learn how to communicate the differences, we begin to refine a solution that limits vulnerabilities that are otherwise unseen. This is why we are all meant to play an equal part in the innovation process. It often feels like we are stuck in a never-ending battle against the doom’s day clock. Dictators claim authority and manipulate states into war. Meanwhile, the people carrying the weight of the world are struggling to survive. Change cannot happen until each of us is willing to lay down our arms and learn how to work together respectfully.
All is not lost. The next generation of innovators will have their hands full, but with their help the possibilities are endless. The innovators of the past have laid the groundwork to enable us to communicate in real time all over the world. The innovators of the present are helping us to speak in a common language, and the innovators of the future will be the ones who take us out of this loop and into a more equitable and loving world.
Elle Younker, a member of AFCEA’s Emerging Professionals in the Intelligence Community, or EPIC, is an ethical social engineer and cyber threat intelligence analyst supporting the national security sector.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of organizations they are affiliated with or AFCEA International.
