"A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the jar that contains it."
                                                                                                                          - Chinese Proverb

 

The water fountain in the picture above is located just beyond the entrance to Epcot Center, the park in Walt Disney World that is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement and innovation. My classmates and I walked by it at least twice (during the course of our week in Disney World) as we made our way into the park proceeding to our workshops during the course of our program.  Observing it as I walked by, reminded me that engaging in and participating in innovation requires people to be adaptable. Just as the flow of water adapts to every stone and groove in this structure). There's no instructions manual for it, it doesn't happen by way of color by numbers and there definitely is no guaranteed formula for how it works. It requires flexibility, resilience and patience. All three came into play during the course of our class as we worked tirelessly though our workshops, research processes and presentation efforts. It was arduous work, which at times bordered on (and even bled into) frustration. Particularly the process around creating our and collection our survey information. In order to measure innovation, you have to be able to measure it. Measuring it requires collecting data and getting feedback on how much your innovation actually impacts. Creating our own surveys and then compiling the data for them, as a bear. Nevertheless each and every one of us pulled though, and in the process had a unique opportunity to work on a service innovation of one of the most recognized brands in the world!

Rasul