I signed off a post on the 22nd of December with “see you in 2018” which, I subsequently realised, could give the impression I would not post again until then. As I sat down to write today, a little devil whispered that I really didn’t need to. But it was only a soft whisper and so I ignored it.
What keeps me doing this every day is that I know missing a day will likely turn into missing a couple of days and then the next thing I know, this entire endeavour falls apart. This is the second time this month that the Thomas Edison quote about genius being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration popped into my mind. The point of this blog is for me to have a place to put my thoughts as I navigate my way through learning more about emerging technologies and associated trends, and to allow me to ponder their impact upon our little planet and our littler lives. If I miss a day, I will likely stop more than just the blogging, for it’s writing here that keeps me reading and learning elsewhere. So just showing up and writing keeps so much else outside of this medium working. Perspiration. As I come to the end of three months of daily blogging, I have no idea how this will end up or where this will take me. What matters is working up the sweat doing it. My hope is that enough sweat leads to a little inspiration.
The other context in which this quote came to mind this month was in listening to a panel on procuring innovation. The discussion centered around how to contract for it and the clauses to use when doing so. It turns out most clauses used by folks in the audience and on the panel had not been very effective. I am convinced, as I was then, it’s because we are not sure whether we’re contracting for perspiration or inspiration. I, personally, don’t believe you can tack an innnovation clause onto a contract without deep thought on what you’d like to see coming out of the clause. This is probably true of any clause but the absence of certainty about an innovative expectation will lead only to failure.
Edison, of all people, knew failure. He failed more often than he succeeded. But that’s only because he was putting in the 99%.
Little and often. Create enough quantity, and the quality will manifest eventually.