Thinking Greater Than Our Environment

As innovators, it is our job to help create mindset, culture, and ways of working that enable a company to continuously evolve and adapt to changing condition and opportunities, manifesting in the creation of new futures.  At MISTA, this is our definition of innovation.

Innovators help people, teams and companies to think greater than our environment.  Thinking greater than our environment means we step outside of the constructs we live and work to experience new thoughts and new emotions.  We refer to this as the ‘unknown’ because these previously unknown experiences create new neural networks in our brain, allowing the potential for evolution in people, teams, and companies.

Most people have seen or heard the quote from Albert Einstein – “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  Thinking greater than our environment allows us to become aware of that which we were previously unaware of, to see new possibilities and perspectives, delivering different results.  This is called metacognition and it is a core competency of innovation.

Most larger organizations are based on constructs that serve efficiency and predictability. This means most organizations live in the ‘known’ and assume that the past will predict the future.  As new futures emerge, these companies struggle to adapt and evolve as leaders.  The focus is on survival vs creation (see illustration).

As innovators, it is our job to help people, teams, and companies become aware of those constructs that no longer serve.  To shine light on the mindset and cultural norms that keep people, teams, and companies living in survival.  To create frameworks that help people, teams, and companies continuously evolve from living in the past to creating new futures.  To lead by example, demonstrating collaboration over transaction, regenerative and systems thinking over extractive and siloed behavior, wisdom over knowledge, and effectiveness over efficiency.  The result is creation.

Recently, Givaudan announced its new brand evolution with a very powerful statement:  Human by Nature.  This is very exciting as it demonstrates an understanding that, as humans, we are living, thriving, and evolving, just like nature.  ‘By Nature,’ means we are not mechanistic and therefore, the culture and ways of working need to adapt and evolve alongside the ever-evolving, hyper-connected system we operate within.

Together, as innovators and leaders, we can transform people, teams, companies, and the food system to meet the needs of the future.  An abundant food system that nourishes people and planet.